Papers by Athena Birkenberg
For the first time, the EU cadmium regulation determines cadmium thresholds for cocoabased-produc... more For the first time, the EU cadmium regulation determines cadmium thresholds for cocoabased-products, effective from January 2019 onwards. Latin America is particularly affected, since cadmium levels in soils are high and fine flavored cocoa is derived from this region. In Colombia, cocoa production has been considered as an alternative to coca production and a critical element of rural development for peace achievement in the post-conflict era. However, this alternative is at threat since around 50% of the total cocoa exports of Colombia are shipped to Europe. This case study aims at understanding the effects of the new EU regulation on Colombian smallholders. Particularly: 1) What strategies have been developed or taken by the different actors along the cocoa export value chain to tackle the cadmium challenge? 2) How do information channels work and how well are producers and cocoa associations informed? To answer these questions, affected Colombian cocoa producers and exporters, w...
Selected references: Andrade et al. (2014). The carbon footprint of coffee production chains in T... more Selected references: Andrade et al. (2014). The carbon footprint of coffee production chains in Tolima, Colombia. In: Sustainable agroecosystems in climate change mitigation. Wageningen Academic Publishers; p. 53–66. Noponen et al. (2013). Sink or source-The potential of coffee agroforestry systems to sequester atmospheric CO2 into soil organic carbon. Agric Ecosyst Environ. 175, pp. 60-68. Smith et al. (2014). Mitigation of Climate Change Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. Coffee-agroforestry-systems show a high potential to compensate the coffee carbon footprint, particularly when coffee plant renovation is limited to 5% ha-1. It is essential to balance sufficient carbon sequestration (particularly shade trees) with high levels of productivity to increase the potential for carbon offsetting inside the product value chain, also known as “insetting”. Accounting for on-farm car...
Field Methods
Agricultural studies mainly rely on quantitative research approaches. Despite growing interest in... more Agricultural studies mainly rely on quantitative research approaches. Despite growing interest in and uptake of qualitative, participatory, and visual methods due to their perceived advantages in gathering in-depth information and empowering participants, visual–digital research methods have yet to be largely applied. In our study on adaptation strategies to climate change among smallholder farmers in Uganda we compared different data collection methods, including: semi-structured interviews with manual note-taking, participatory impact diagrams, and adapted photovoice and cellphilm methodologies.
The agri-food sector generates between 20-30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A recent attemp... more The agri-food sector generates between 20-30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A recent attempt to address an increasing demand for climate change mitigation in global value chains is the use of strict and high quality climate labels. However, very little is known on consumer s preferences and attitudes towards climate labels in the agri-food sector and even less on synergistic effects of climate labels in coexistence with other labels. This study examines the world s first coffee, certified as carbon neutral and consumer preferences. It investigates the willingness to pay (WTP) of German consumers for carbon neutral labels on coffee and potential synergistic effects when carbon neutral certification is combined with uncertified direct trade claims or a Fair Trade certificate. A discrete choice experiment based on a Mixed Logit Model was used to determine consumer s WTP and focus group discussions were conducted to understand the rationales. A marginal WTP of 1.70 for a carbon ne...
Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability, 2019
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021
Purpose. to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise with dual-task on the motor function in pati... more Purpose. to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise with dual-task on the motor function in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods. clinically evaluated by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating scale-III and the senior Fitness test battery, 20 patients with Parkinson's disease were randomly divided into a control and an experimental group, with the latter performing a 4-week program of water-walking in a deep pool while executing dual-tasks. Evaluations were made before and after 4 weeks in both groups. Results. Patients with Parkinson's disease revealed significant improvements in pre-/post-exercise motor function, with a moderate effect (p < 0.001; d = 0.44). Bradykinesia (p < 0.001) and agility (p < 0.001) exhibited significant changes individually. Conclusions. Regular exercise combined with executive challenge such as dual-task may counteract the advanced motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease neurodegeneration.
Springer Environmental Science and Engineering, 2012
International Journal of the Commons
Since civil wars hit rural areas intensely, Rural Producer Organizations (RPO)-as forms of long-t... more Since civil wars hit rural areas intensely, Rural Producer Organizations (RPO)-as forms of long-term collective action or cooperation among small farmers-are considered essential for peacebuilding. However, the factors underpinning the formation and performance of RPO postwar are unclear. Based on a case study in the municipality of Planadas, Colombia, where the former communist guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People&#39;s Army-FARC-EP was formed and several associations flourished postwar , this article identifies 14 contextual factors facilitating the rise of RPO. Contrasting the findings with variables identified by collective action, commons theory, and literature on RPO, it was determined that four additional contextual variables play a critical role in RPO development postwar , namely, legacies of war, resilience strategies, institutional intermediaries, and discourses. Legacies of war refer to the vestiges left by the kind of relationship developed between the main armed actor and the civilians in wartime. Economic activity as a resilience strategy indicates civilians&#39; strategies to stay aside from the confrontation, reducing the probability of being harmed and preventing their involvement in the war or illegal economic activities. Intermediary institutions are third-party organizations that influence RPO. In the case considered, this role was developed by certification schemes known as Voluntary Sustainability Standards. Controverting critical literature on the effects of the standards, the results suggest that they can enhance self-organizing capacities post-conflict at the local level. Finally, discourses refer to additional incentives for RPO development regarding what participants consider valuable beyond economic benefits. Consequently, the article presents the foundations of an expanded framework to understand and foster RPO growth in postwar settings.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018
The world's first carbon neutral coffee: Lessons on certification and innovation from a pioneer c... more The world's first carbon neutral coffee: Lessons on certification and innovation from a pioneer case in Costa Rica As agriculture is an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, carbon labelling aiming at climate protection will play an increasing role in the future. An important example is the development of guidelines and standards for climate-neutral agricultural products and their respective certification. Carbon neutral certifications are, however, affected by criticism and mistrust as there were cases of doubtful claims to carbon neutrality in the past. Against this background, this paper analyses a rather promising case of certification for carbon neutrality: the pioneer case of a Costa Rican coffee cooperative Coopedota, which is the first organization worldwide that achieved certification for carbon neutrality in coffee using a renowned international standard. Coopedota's carbon neutral coffee is certified according to the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2060, which is based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The paper analyses how the cooperative came to apply this certification, which challenges it faced and how the cooperative solved them. Furthermore, the paper examines the social, political and institutional factors that fostered this innovation. To analyse the success factors that were relevant in this case, a Social Network Analysis approach was used. An innovative tool called 'Process Net-Map' was applied to visualize the social networks that enabled the actors to pursue the certification scheme. Process Net-Map also made it possible to identify the role and importance of different types of actors. The analysis shows that the certification created awareness on emission hot-spots along the coffee value chain. Reliable farm data from producers were identified as crucial because emissions at the farm level account for 60% of total emissions. It was also found that by avoiding pure offsetting, PAS 2060 supports emission reduction; however, PAS 2060 does not account for on-site carbon sequestration, for which coffee cultivation has high potential. Overall, the study found that the most important success factors include a combination of (i) past achievements in Coopedota's sustainability policy, which was incentivised by national and international trends and (ii) strong, visionary actors that performed the necessary network functions. The analysis also showed that the network of relevant actors is highly centralized, (indicated by a degree centrality of 86%), which may jeopardize the sustainability of the innovation project. The network analysis also revealed the importance of 'double linkages' between actors, which points to the role that combined services, such as funding and advice, played for the introduction of the certification scheme. General implications are derived from this case for future efforts to promote carbon neutral certification schemes for agri-food products.
Forest Policy and Economics
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Papers by Athena Birkenberg