Evaluating the Impact of Voluntary Sustainability Standards on Coffee Farmers’ Incomes and the Achievement of the Living Income Benchmark

This paper investigates the relationship between Voluntary Sustainability Standards—specifically Rainforest Alliance certification—and income adequacy in the global coffee sector. Drawing on cross-sectional data from the 11 largest coffee-producing countries, the study explores whether higher levels of certified coffee production and structural characteristics, such as average certified farm size, are associated with improved wage outcomes. Using scatterplot analysis and correlation coefficients, the research examines the alignment between average coffee wages and the living income benchmark, a metric that reflects the income required to achieve a decent standard of living. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the economic impacts of sustainability certification and highlights the need for multi-dimensional strategies to ensure that sustainability initiatives translate into tangible benefits for coffee producers, particularly smallholders. The findings reveal a moderate to strong positive correlation between certified coffee production and the wage-to-living-income ratio, as well as between average certified farm size and income adequacy. However, when Brazil is excluded due to its outlier status in farm size, the relationship weakens and becomes non-linear. These results suggest that while certification and farm structure can contribute to improved livelihoods, they are not sufficient on their own. Broader institutional, policy, and market factors must also be considered.