{"id":13398,"date":"2018-08-25T00:45:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T00:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=13398"},"modified":"2018-08-26T00:48:18","modified_gmt":"2018-08-26T00:48:18","slug":"coffee-farmers-struggle-to-adapt-to-colombias-changing-climate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/coffee-farmers-struggle-to-adapt-to-colombias-changing-climate\/","title":{"rendered":"Coffee farmers struggle to adapt to Colombia’s changing climate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jessica Eise<\/a>, Purdue University<\/a><\/em> and Natalie White<\/a>, Purdue University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In Colombia\u2019s coffee-producing region of Risaralda, small trees run along the sharp incline of the Andes Mountains, carefully tended in tidy rows. Thousands of green coffee berries turn brilliant red as they ripen, ready to be harvested by hand. The steep hills here prevent mechanized<\/a> techniques.<\/p>\n

Its unique geography makes Colombia one of the world\u2019s greatest coffee-producing nations, selling US$2.64 billion<\/a> of mild, high-altitude Arabica beans to countries around the world each year. Only Brazil and Vietnam export more coffee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite their global reach, coffee farms in Colombia are generally family-owned and modest in size<\/a> \u2013 perhaps 5 to 12 acres. <\/p>\n

These fertile mountains already face weather-related risks, such as mudslides and erosion<\/a>. Now, the country\u2019s coffee region is increasingly vulnerable to climate change-induced disasters<\/a> like flooding, drought and invasive pests<\/a>. <\/p>\n

For the country\u2019s 300,000 coffee producers<\/a>, these extreme weather threats \u2013 coupled with the increasingly unpredictable seasons, crop disease and invasive insects<\/a> associated with climate change \u2013 endanger their livelihoods. <\/p>\n

Farmers see the changes around them<\/h2>\n

Our research team went to Colombia in early 2018 to talk with the coffee farmers of Risaralda about how they are adapting to climate change<\/a>. <\/p>\n

We asked 45 farmers questions that tapped into the farmers\u2019 own conceptualization of climate change, such as \u201cWhat is climate change?\u201d and \u201cHow, if at all, has climate change affected you as a farmer?\u201d<\/p>\n

The results were stark. <\/p>\n

Over 90 percent of the coffee farmers reported changes in average temperature. Seventy-four percent said droughts had gotten longer and worse, and 61 percent reported an increase in mountainside erosion and landslides because of more rain.<\/p>\n

The farmers also perceived impacts of these environmental changes on their crops. Ninety-one percent reported changes in the flowering and fruiting cycles of the coffee plants. Seventy-five percent had noticed an increase in pests, and 59 percent reported an increase in crop disease.<\/p>\n

These changes have created uncertainty about previously routine farming decisions. <\/p>\n

Because the planting and harvesting seasons are no longer regular or predictable, for example, many farmers cannot rely on traditional seasonal indicators to guide them about the right time to plant, harvest or tend to their coffee crops. <\/p>\n

Organizing labor to pick the coffee beans has also become a struggle because the trees often do not flower at the same time due to unstable seasonal conditions. New Colombian labor laws meant to decrease child labor<\/a> make finding farmhands difficult, compounding the problem.<\/p>\n

In short, the farmers saw climate change as nothing less than an existential threat. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur ability to counteract the effects of climate change is minimal,\u201d one farmer told us. \u201cIt is a threat capable of greatly incapacitating us. So we must be very attentive to the little we can do to mitigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing coffee in today\u2019s climate<\/h2>\n

From 2008 to 2013, Colombia\u2019s coffee production dropped approximately 33 percent<\/a> due to the El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a<\/a> inclement weather patterns, when rains, clouds and hot spells all increased. <\/p>\n

The country has worked to increase its production<\/a> since then, and this year Colombian coffee farmers are expected to produce 13.3 million bags<\/a> of coffee beans \u2013 roughly 1.8 billion pounds \u2013 up about 23 percent from 2013 levels.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019re still short of the national production goals of 14.7 million bags, a shortfall the Colombian National Coffee Federation has attributed to excessive rain and cloudiness<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Even before climate change endangered their crop, Colombian coffee farmers were already operating on a very slim profit margin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most producers sell their coffee to the Colombian National Coffee Federation<\/a>, a nonprofit cooperative founded in 1927 to represent Colombia\u2019s coffee farmers nationally and internationally. It values Colombia\u2019s coffee exports using a price scale tied to the New York Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n

Since that price fluctuates daily, it is difficult to calculate an individual farmer\u2019s exact income or losses, but most small farmers in Colombia barely break even. <\/p>\n

Under such circumstances, even one crop failure can devastate the family farm. <\/p>\n

Farmers struggle to adapt<\/h2>\n

To adapt to Colombia\u2019s changing climate, some farmers have begun experimenting with new farming techniques they think might help offset its impacts. <\/p>\n

Roughly one-third of the farmers we interviewed had planted trees on their farms to shade coffee plants during hot spells and to prevent soil erosion during big storms. Others were building water tanks to collect rainwater during droughts.<\/p>\n

Some coffee farmers had also diversified their crops, adding banana and avocados trees to their farms to reduce the risks of any one crop\u2019s failed harvest. <\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Risaralda has a unique geography that is perfect for coffee production but vulnerable to climate change.<\/span>
\n Natalie White<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But fully one-third of all the coffee producers we spoke with \u2013 14 of our interviewees \u2013 are still farming as their families have for centuries. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re not unconcerned about the environmental changes affecting their farms. Yet time pressures and lack of resources give them little choice but to focus on short-term demands like making payroll, paying debts and keeping food on the table.<\/p>\n

Keeping Colombia\u2019s coffee industry alive<\/h2>\n

Climate-related production challenges are a concern not just for the farmers we interviewed but also for Colombia\u2019s economy. <\/p>\n

Coffee is the South American country\u2019s most important agricultural export<\/a>, representing 31 percent of all agricultural trade. The industry is worth around $1.97 billion a year and employs an estimated 800,000 people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other developing countries where the coffee industry is being hit hard by climate change, such as Brazil and Tanzania, have tried some successful adaptation strategies<\/a>. These include introducing new varieties of coffee beans, improving soil and water management and increasing access to loans and other financial services to help farmers weather failed crops or invest in new technologies.<\/p>\n

Research shows that teaching people to farm in a new and unpredictable environment requires a detailed understanding of how a given population is vulnerable to climate change now and in the future<\/a>. That means asking farmers what they think and feel about what\u2019s happening<\/a> to design contingency plans that will actually work for them.<\/p>\n

That was the work we began to do in Risaralda. We hope our findings can help the Colombian government work with farmers to help them adapt their farming practices for a future of more extreme, unpredictable weather.<\/p>\n


\n\"The
\n<\/p>\n

Farming in the face of climate change involves grappling with many complicated economic, informational, labor and business problems. Colombian coffee farmers want to succeed, but they\u2019ll need help in all of these areas just to survive.<\/p>\n

Jessica Eise<\/a>, Ross Fellow in the Brian Lamb School of Communication Doctoral Program, Purdue University<\/a><\/em> and Natalie White<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Communication, Purdue University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jessica Eise, Purdue University and Natalie White, Purdue University In Colombia\u2019s coffee-producing region of Risaralda, small trees run along the sharp incline of the Andes Mountains, carefully tended in tidy rows. Thousands of green coffee berries turn brilliant red as they ripen, ready to be harvested by hand. The steep hills here prevent mechanized techniques. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":13394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1862],"tags":[139,3528,5034,5033,671],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13399,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398\/revisions\/13399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}