And growers sometimes use chemicals that are banned in the United States. However, in Latin America, where environmental regulations are often unenforced, the chemicals have contaminated water supplies and sickened workers. In addition, the economic advantages of sun coffee are no longer so obvious. Although sun producers, because of large yields, earn more than shade farmers when coffee prices are high, their reliance on chemicals and the techniques of intensive agriculture means that their costs are higher, leaving them more vulnerable than traditional growers to low prices. The world coffee market is volatile, making total dependence on the crop a risky proposition, especially for small farmers.
Shade trees can provide fruit and wood for fuel, helping farmers to diversify.
Shade coffee plants also tend to outlive sun trees. Exposing coffee to sun is like giving the plants a shot of steroids. Juiced up, the hungry plant quickly depletes the soil, so that farmers must apply chemical fertilizers to support the plants. All this activity exhausts the coffee plants. Aware of all this, international agencies have begun promoting shade.