Since 2001, IPE researchers have collaborated with landless farmers to implement "Coffee with Forest", a project that combines the cultivation of coffee (Coffea arabica .L), and annual crops such as beans, corn and cassava, with the inter-planting of native Atlantic Forest trees.
These multi-crop areas are established primarily in farming settlements near forest fragments and create ecological stepping-stones that allow the dispersal of wildlife between otherwise isolated forest patches. This yields a substantial benefit for the local genetic health of many wild animal populations.
The presence of trees in this system also decreases the probability of frost, which is a significant threat to coffee growers during winter months. Moreover, as these crops are all certified organic, the damage to ecosystem and human health is negligible.
Another advantage of this type of production to farmers is that overhead costs are minimal as most of the required raw materials, such as compost and livestock manure, can be found on their own properties.
"Coffee with Forest" trial plantations have served a demonstrative role for other farmers in the region and thus helped to spread techniques IPE has developed. For example, some neighbouring farmers have eagerly adopted practices such as composting.
