India contributes to 5% of the world coffee production; 80% of this is Robusta (Coffea canephora) and 20% is Arabica (Coffea arabica) grown under the shade of multi-strata systems. These coffee agroforestry systems (CAFS) are located in the Western Ghats, one of the world hotspots of biodiversity. In 2008, an economic survey was conducted on 115 farms in 34 randomly selected villages of the Kavery watershed in Kodagu, the main coffee-producing district in the Western Ghats with 1/3 of the Indian production. The objectives were: i) to estimate the cost and benefit associated with coffee cultivation across different farm sizes; ii) to estimate the economic importance of inter-crops (pepper, cardamom, arecanut) and fuelwood in CAFS,; and iii) to perform a preliminary assessment of the cost-benefit of shade management. Preliminary results indicate that cost of production is higher in medium farms (2 10 ha) than on small (<2 ha) or large farms (>10 ha). Labour (45%) and agrochemicals (17%) represent the largest expenditures. Although coffee is sold as dry cherries at the farm gate to middlemen, net income per kg of coffee is relatively high at 0.5 0.6 USD. The income to cost ratio is also high at 1.4, 1.2 and 1 for small, medium and large farms, respectively. This is due to the fact that the current Robusta price is high due to higher domestic demand (30% of the national production) and that Indian Robusta coffee benefits from a high premium on the international market due to its quality. The net income derived from intercrops accounts for 16% to 31% of farmers' revenues. As the opportunity costs of shade tree coffee cultivation are increasing due to increasing market opportunities, initiatives to improve quality, reduce risks and compensate for the loss of productivity while enhancing ecofriendly management will be difficult to achieve. (Texte intégral)