Life cycle assessment in coffee systems in Veracruz

Authors

  • Kathia Peralta-Zuñiga Colegio de Postgraduados image/svg+xml , Campus Montecillo Author
  • Félix Rafael Ramírez-Arpide Universidad Politécnica de Texcoco Author
  • Abraham de Jesús Romero-Fernández Colegio de Postgraduados image/svg+xml , Campus Montecillo Author
  • Mirian Valerio-Robles Universidad Politécnica de Texcoco Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v17i6.4238

Keywords:

agroforestry systems, climate change, environmental impact

Abstract

Coffee production is an important economic activity worldwide, as it generates employment for more than 20 million people engaged in growing, transforming, processing and marketing the product. This research evaluated and compared the environmental performance of agricultural production in three coffee (Coffea arabica) production systems in La Tinaja, Veracruz -coffee with banana (Musa paradisiaca), coffee with mango (Mangifera indica), and full-sun coffee- in 2024. Using the life cycle assessment methodology and the ReCiPe 2016 method (H), the impacts per functional unit of 1 kg of cherry coffee were analyzed, considering the stages of establishment, development, and agricultural management. The results indicated that producing 1 kg of coffee generates global warming of 0.79, 1.05 and 0.44 kg of CO2eq in the full-sun coffee, coffee-banana, and coffee-mango systems, respectively. Direct soil emissions from fertilizer application contributed to most of the categories assessed. The coffee-banana system registered the highest environmental loads, followed by the full-sun coffee system. The coffee-mango system presented the lowest environmental impacts in all categories, proving to be the system with the best environmental performance compared to the systems studied.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Acosta-Alba, I.; Boissy, J.; Chia, E. and Andrieu, N. 2020. Integrating diversity of smallholder coffee cropping systems in environmental analysis. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 25(2):252-266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01689-5.

Alishah, A.; Motevali, A.; Tabatabaeekoloor, R. and Hashemi, S. J. 2019. Multiyear life energy and life cycle assessment of orange production in Iran. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 26(31):32432-32445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06344-y.

Basavalingaiah, K.; Paramesh, V.; Parajuli, R.; Girisha, H. C.; Shivaprasad, M.; Vidyashree, G. V.; Thoma, G.; Hanumanthappa, M.; Yogesh, G. S.; Misra, S. D.; Bhat, S.; Irfan, M. M. and Rajanna, G. A, 2022. Energy flow and life cycle impact assessment of coffee-pepper production systems: An evaluation of conventional, integrated and organic farms in India. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 92:06687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2021.106687.

Clark, C.; Bai, Y.; Bowman, W.; Cowles, J.; Fenn, M.; Gilliam, F.; Phoenix, G. K.; Siddique, I.; Stevens, C. J.; Sverdrup, H. U. and Throop, H. L. 2013. Nitrogen deposition and terrestrial biodiversity. In Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. Levin, SA. Second Edition. Academic Press. 519-536 pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384719-5.00366-X.

Dollinger, J. and Jose, S. 2018. Agroforestry for soil health. Agroforestry systems. 92(2):213-219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-018-0223-9.

FAO. 2025. Coffee. MarketsAndTrade. https://www.fao.org/markets-and-trade/commodities-overview/beverages/coffee/.

Guinée, J. B. 2002. Handbook on life cycle assessment: operational guide to the ISO Standards. Eco-efficiency in industry and science. Vol. 7. Springer Science and Business Media. 692 p.

Hasan, Y.; Roy, P. and Abbassi, B. 2024. Comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) in the agri-food industry, focusing on organic and conventional coffee. Sustainability. 16(24):10819. https://doi.org/10.3390/su162410819.

Hasler, K.; Bröring, S.; Omta, S. W. F. and Olfs, H. W. 2015. Life cycle assessment (LCA) of different fertilizer product types. European Journal of Agronomy. 69:41-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2015.06.001.

Huijbregts, M. A. J.; Steinmann, Z. J. N.; Elshout, P. M. F.; Stam, G.; Verones, F.; Vieira, M.; Zijp, M.; Hollander, A. and van Zelm, R. 2017. ReCiPe2016: a harmonised life cycle impact assessment method at midpoint and endpoint level. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 22(2):138-147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1246-y.

INEGI. 2021. Marco geoestadístico-catálogo único de claves de áreas geoestadísticas estatales, municipales y localidades. https://www.inegi.org.mx/app/ageeml/.

ISO. 2006a. ISO 14040:2006. Environmental management - life cycle assessment - Principles and framework. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:14040:ed-2:v1:en.

ISO. 2006b. ISSO 14044:2006. Environmental management -Life cycle assessment-Requirements and guidelines. https://www.iso.org/cms/render/live/en/sites/isoorg/contents/data/standard/03/84/38498.html.

Mengesha, T.; Berhanu, Y. and Teshale, A. 2026. Impact of shifting to full-sun coffee plantations on soil bacterial diversity in the Kafa Forest Biosphere Reserve. Ethiopia. Total Environment Microbiology. 2(1):100060. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.temicr.2026.100060.

Moguel, P. and Toledo, V. 1999. Biodiversity conservation in traditional coffee systems of Mexico. Conservation Biology. 13(1):11-21.

Moguel, P. y Toledo, V. M. 2004. Conservar produciendo: Biodiversidad, café orgánico y jardines productivos. Biodiversitas. 55:2-7.

Nemecek, T. and Schnetzer, J. 2011. Methods of assessment of direct field emissions for LCIs of agricultural production systems. Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station. Zurich. 34 p.

Noponen, M. R. A.; Edwards-Jones, G.; Haggar, J. P.; Soto, G.; Attarzadeh, N. and Healey, J. R. 2012. Greenhouse gas emissions in coffee grown with differing input levels under conventional and organic management. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 151:6-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2012.01.019.

Parra-Paitan, C. and Verburg, P. H. 2022. Accounting for land use changes beyond the farm-level in sustainability assessments: The impact of cocoa production. Science of The Total Environment. 825:154032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154032.

Pazmiño, M. L.; Mero-Benavides, M.; Aviles, D.; Blanco-Marigorta, A. M.; Tinoco, D. L. and Ramírez, A. D. 2024. Life cycle assessment of instant coffee production considering different energy sources. Cleaner Environmental Systems. 12:100174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesys.2024.100174.

Rahmah, D. M.; Putra, A. S.; Ishizaki, R.; Noguchi, R. and Ahamed, T. 2022. A life cycle assessment of organic and chemical fertilizers for coffee production to evaluate sustainability toward the energy-environment-economic nexus in Indonesia. Sustainability. 14(7):3912. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073912.

Ratchawat, T.; Panyatona, S.; Nopchinwong, P.; Chidthaisong, A. and Chiarakorn, S. 2020. Carbon and water footprint of Robusta coffee through its production chains in Thailand. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 22(3):2415-2429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-018-0299-4.

Romero-Fernández, A. de J.; González-Chávez, Ma. del C. Á.; Herrera-Cabrera, B. E.; Corona-Sánchez, J. E. and Carrillo-González, R. 2023. The coffee-mango association promotes favorable soil conditions for better-nourished and higher-yielding plants. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 354:108589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108589.

SIAP. 2024. Panorama Agroalimentario, 2018-2024: la ruta de la transformación agroalimentaria. Servicio de Información Agroalimentaria y Pesquera. Ciudad de México, México. 210 p.

Valdés-Velarde, E.; Vázquez-Domínguez, L. P.; Tinoco-Rueda, J. Á.; Sánchez-Hernández, R.; Salcedo-Pérez, E. y Lagunes-Fortiz, E. 2022. Servicio ecosistémico de carbono almacenado en cafetales bajo sombra en sistema agroforestal. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas. 28(esp):287-297. https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v13i28.3283.

Van der Feen, L.; Verweij, P. A.; Vermeulen, W. J. V.; Montagnon, C. and Sheibani, F. 2025. Life cycle assessment of seed-to-cup specialty coffee cultivated by smallholders in Yemen. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 30(8):1761-1775. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-025-02495-y.

Published

2026-10-21

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Peralta-Zuñiga, Kathia, Félix Rafael Ramírez-Arpide, Abraham de Jesús Romero-Fernández, and Mirian Valerio-Robles. 2026. “Life Cycle Assessment in Coffee Systems in Veracruz”. Revista Mexicana De Ciencias Agrícolas 17 (6): e4238. https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v17i6.4238.