A Future Without Coffee? Maybe Not.

When first I read this article, I realized how linking a worldwide problem, such as climate change, to our daily routine is an effective way to understand the phenomenon better and start thinking about it as something real.

Let’s start with 3 facts:

1) Climate change is happening.

2) People love coffee (especially Finns who, according to The Telegraph, are the best coffee drinkers in the world with “12kg per capita per year”).

3) We need a healthy planet to grow coffee beans.

Researchers and experts are telling us that our world is not a good place for coffee anymore. Coffee crops are in danger due to “deforestation, abnormally high temperatures, a lack of precipitation, and disease”.

What would that mean? That, unless researchers find plant varieties that can resist jumps in temperature and are strong enough to survive with less water, our future coffee breaks are at risk. 

Data are not encouraging either. As for Nicaragua, for instance, scientists say that the country “could lose the majority of its coffee-growing areas by 2050”, as reported by The Guardian.

According to a report by the Climate Institute “between 80 and 90 per cent of the world’s 25 million coffee farmers are smallholders who are among those most exposed to climate change”.

The good news is that researchers are working hard to find solutions. 

Besides the article, I would suggest to look at the “Coffee farming in a changing climate” infographic to get more insights.