WHY IS WORLD’S COFFEE UNDER THREAT?
By Tvisha Sinha
WHILE INTERNATIONALLY ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE BRINGING TO OUR NOTICE THAT COFFEE IS UNDER THREAT AT A GLOBAL SCALE, WE CAN STILL SAVE OUR EVERYDAY CUP OF COFFEE FROM GOING EXTINCT
In the 21st Century, the global community is at a critical juncture grappling with profound and escalating challenges posed by climate change. These threats have now extended beyond environmental concerns encompassing profound socio-economic impacts, jeopardizing food security, water resources and human well-being. One of the worstly affected sectors is the agriculture sector where the unexpected weather events have caused a threat to the coffee beans.
The United States Department of Agriculture published its reports in December 2023 mentioning a decline in the world production of coffee. According to the reports the world production is lowered 5.5 million bags from June 2023 estimate to 164.5 million. The reason behind this is the harsh climatic conditions being faced by some of the major coffee producing countries in the world namely Vietnam, Ethiopia and Columbia.
According to the reports, Vietnam is 2.6 million bags lower to 27.2 million due to dry conditions that dropped yields. Ethiopia is reduced to 1.0 million bags to 7.3 million as dry conditions lowered yields. Columbia is down 600,000 bags to 10.7 million as damaging rains fell in some areas during the flowering period.
DRIVING FORCES BEHIND COFFEE EXTINCTION
The two primary species of coffee, Robusta and Arabica together shape the global coffee landscape. Both of these species are declared to be under threat with experts predicting that by 2050, half of the world’s land currently used for farming coffee may be unusable due to rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns and the proliferation of pests and diseases associated with climate change. For instance, one of the biggest coffee producing houses in the world, Espirito Santo ( Brazil) has been witnessing low rainfall in the last few years resulting in droughts. This has lead to plant death and has adversely affected the flowering and bean development which in turn has disturbed the patterns of coffee production. These drought years are experienced by many other dominant coffee producing countries and when they are complemented by high temperatures it affects the blooming phase of coffee farming by causing abortion of flowers. Similar patterns have been traced in India where global warming has contributed to a drastic rise in temperatures disturbing the weather patterns thereby making the coffee beans immune to damage and pest attacks. The pattern of the “blossom showers” also seems to be changing, adding multiple problems to the procedure of coffee plantation.
The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) also causes damage to the coffee fruit. This climate phenomenon warms the Pacific Ocean and this gradually leads to a disruption in the weather patterns and also causes far reaching changes in the precipitation patterns. This results in drought conditions in some regions and increased rainfall in others. The warmer and drier conditions create favorable environments for pests and diseases that can harm coffee plants.
This became evident when the PLOS Climate published in March 2023 that the coffee production around the world is threatened by synchronous crop failures driven by the El Nino Southern Oscillation. Researchers identified climate hazards that threaten coffee crops in 12 dominant coffee producing countries namely, Brazil, Columbia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Vietnam, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Indonesia, India and Uganda.
WAYS TO REDUCE THE THREAT
Agroforestry, a land use management system that integrates the principles of agriculture and forestry, will help adapt to the negative impacts of climate change on coffee production by enhancing soil fertility and building resilience. This will also be a good way to generate income as trees provide valuable products such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, timber and medicinal herbs.
The reintroduction of trees or shrubs will preserve and enhance the biodiversity and they would also act as windbreakers thereby preventing the soil from getting eroded.
With farmers migrating to higher altitudes in search for cooler weather to fulfill the growing demand for coffee , an extinction of some species of coffees has prevailed. This can be dealt with only if the governments of the concerned nations impose strict restrictions on industries polluting the air leading to global warming.
Another vital way to increase coffee production is to provide a better income to the farmers. Providing the farmers with incentives will encourage them to continue with the profession and will also successfully introduce the new generation of farmers to the profession . This will resolve the grievances that the coffee farmers are presently struggling with.
The use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) from time to time will help control infestations. The use of organic fertilizers and organic mulch by the farmers will help maintain the overall nutrient level in the soil and would also add the correct amount of balance needed for coffee growth.
Lastly, the coffee farmers should be informed about the growing diseases and should be encouraged to adopt some of the above mentioned practices to ensure the long- term health and productivity of their coffee plants and make their farms more resilient.
