Coffee
Slavery
Colonialism
Brazil
Brazilian coffee cultivation accompanied extensive deforestation that followed the traditional production methods of sugarcane and cotton. Over many years, Brazil had developed full-sun coffee plantations, unlike in other tropical countries such as the Philippines, where coffee cultivation was traditionally conducted in association with other tree species. By the mid-20th century, the Atlantic Rainforest was largely replaced by open coffee plantations, which ended the nutrient recycling of the forest ecosystem and led to a drastic reduction in soil fertility. Because coffee was cultivated on hills, soil erosion accelerated, leading to extensive land degradation. Nevertheless, except for a short period after the Great Depression in the 1930s, when international coffee prices fell dramatically, the Brazilian government continually encouraged farmers in the region to plant coffee and to expand new cultivation areas. This resulted in the occupation of new and more fertile areas by coffee farms and further deforestation, and some of the old coffee fields were subsequently used as pasture or for the production of staple foods.[1]
- ↑ Maria Izabel Vieira Botelho, Irene Maria Cardoso & Kei Otsuki (2016) “I made a pact with God, with nature, and with myself”: exploring deep agroecology, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 40:2, 116-131, DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2015.1115798