What is the most important threat to coffee production in your assigned country and the most promising solution to address this threat or reduce its impact?

What is the most important threat to coffee production in your assigned country and the most promising solution to address this threat or reduce its impact? Your paper must do the following:

Discuss only one threat. Note that you cannot choose “climate change” as your threat; you must be more specific (e.g. rising temperatures, unpredictable weather, etc.)

Discuss only one solution to address the threat or reduce its impact;

Have a clear thesis and blueprint for both your chosen threat and solution;

Engage with concepts from at least two course modules;

Use at least one current, coffee-related policy, project or initiative happening in your assigned country to discuss your one solution;

Be at least 1500 words (roughly six double-spaced pages).

The purpose of the research paper is to allow you to organize and write a multi-part essay, use what you’ve learned about your assigned country to make a persuasive argument, and demonstrate your knowledge of the writing skills we have introduced during the class. Read this full assignment to make sure you understand the additional requirements for your paper.

Audience

Each country has a Ministry of Agriculture–a department in charge of agricultural policies and regulations. For this assignment, imagine that you are working as a research consultant in your assigned country and that the Ministry is re-evaluating their policies and funding for the coffee sector. They have requested an assessment of the single greatest threat to coffee within the country as well as a way to address this threat. The officials who will read this report know that coffee is an important crop for their country but are not coffee experts. It is not safe to assume they know details about the cultivation, economics, or social dynamics of growing coffee.

A recommended structure is:

Briefly provide relevant information on coffee production in your assigned country before concluding your introductory paragraph with your thesis statement (see next section).

Decide on the 2 or 3 points the Ministry absolutely needs to know about the threat. Write 1-2 body paragraphs on each of these points. Support your points with evidence. This should include definitions of key terms, paraphrasing of key sources, and an explanation of how these sources support your argument. Quotations are acceptable as evidence but only if you can’t express the same information in your own words.

Decide on 2 or 3 points the Ministry should know about the solution before taking action. Write 1-2 body paragraphs on each of these points.

Your discussion of the solution should include one specific, coffee-related project, policy, or initiative as evidence. You can discuss the project throughout the second half of your essay to explain your main points, or you can describe and analyze the project in a separate paragraph in part two of your essay.

Summarize your paper with a conclusion that includes a restatement of your thesis

You must cite at least seven sources within your paper from the following categories: One or more course lectures;

One or more course readings;

One reference about your assigned country;

at least two sources from academic journals, books, or reports.