Carbon balance in coffee farming: A life cycle case study of conservationist versus conventional systems

Abstract

Global warming, primarily driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, represents one of the major environmental challenges of our time. Agriculture plays a dual role in this context, as both a significant emitter and a potential carbon sink. Coffee cultivation, spread across more than 70 countries, increasingly demands the integration of productivity and sustainability. While conservation-oriented agricultural practices offer promising mitigation strategies, their application in coffee systems, particularly in key producing countries, remains underexplored. This study aimed to assess and compare greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration between a Conservationist Production System and a Conventional Production System in coffee farming in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. To this end, Life Cycle Assessment was applied, focusing on the Global Warming Potential category. The Conservationist System emitted 1.21 kg CO₂-eq per functional unit, significantly lower than the 3.21 kg CO₂-eq observed in the Conventional System. Both systems demonstrated negative net carbon balances, confirming their roles as carbon sinks: −560.78 kg CO₂-eq for the Conservationist System and −430.86 kg CO₂-eq for the Conventional System. Superior performance of the Conservationist System is attributed to practices such as intercropping with Urochloa decumbens and the incorporation of organic residues. These results emphasize the relevance of integrating such practices into sustainable coffee production and highlight their potential contribution to carbon credit mechanisms and environmental certification initiatives.