Notes from: Bambi Semroc – Will Climate Change and Increased Coffee Demand Lead to New Deforestation?

Watch the video:

Worthy Notes for us:

• We have the ability to respond to the issues being identified around climate change.
• Shade grown areas provide a buffer area for production areas, sustain and provide critical eco-system services back into the coffee producing community.
• We need to do something to sustain and allow for growth.
• People need nature (and coffee) to thrive – as a consumer and as a producer for their lively hood.
• Climate change is already impacting the coffee producers, especially in the lower altitudes.
• Study has looked at past and anticipated consumption trends.
• Results have found demand is projected to increase 50 – 150% more consumption, especially in Asia.
• Add cold brew to that, which need more coffee to produce the same output quantity and the increase is feasibly more than that.
• What these number means is that we need the area of 4 Cost Ricas more to keep up with demand (around 200 m² more), this probably is not possible.
• It is plausible that we will lose about 50% of our current coffee production area, especially in high quality coffee areas.
• We need approximately 20% of the total of 60% of the current area that is suitable for coffee growth that is currently forest, is protected.
• So there is competition for multiple crops, including coffee for current forest area.
• Compare the two slides below to see the anticipated change in areas suitable for quality coffee production (please note that the copyright is reco symposium’s)

• Even Robusta is affected
• Peru was shown as an example was displayed around 14:05.
• Providing farmers with incentives to reduce deforestation which have been introduced to show the result of good management of shade, mulching etc, and thereby increase productivity, with conserving the forest creating sustainable landscapes.
• A new way of thinking beyond a single farm is something they are pushing to drive sustainability.
• To move beyond the gloom and doom business needs to invest in the toolbox which has as its tools shade, training, collaboration, government policy, variety research and incentives.
• JV’s like sustainability coffee challenge, coffee in communities and coffee in climate are examples of collaborations that are working to day to move the neddle.
• Models are working they need to be scaled up.

See report: conservation.org/coffeereport.