New Delhi: The UK’s love for a cup of coffee is under threat from the climate crisis, a new report by charity Christian Aid said on Monday.
The paper outlines how coffee farmers in poorer countries require financial support from richer countries to help farmers adapt to climate change and address the loss and damage it causes.
In the UK alone, Brits drink more than 98 million cups of coffee a day. According to calculations by Christian Aid, that is enough to fill more than nine Olympic sized swimming pools.
However, analysis from the international development charity warns coffee farmers are facing a host of climate-related impacts such as rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, disease, droughts and landslides — an issue observed by Christian Aid partners in Honduras.
Expert forecasts warn that temperature increases of just 1.5C-2C will see highly suitable land for growing coffee slashed by more than half — 54 per cent — by the end of the century. This includes the two countries where the UK gets most of its coffee from: Brazil and Vietnam.
It is worrying news for the livelihoods and survival of coffee farmers. For the British economy, the British Coffee Association estimated the number of jobs supported by coffee in the UK stood at around 210,325 in 2017.
The warnings appear to also be concerning British consumers. New polling by Savanta, commissioned by Christian Aid, reveals three in five (57 per cent) UK adults say they are concerned that climate change will impact the cost, taste and availability of coffee in the UK.
The polling also shows almost seven in 10 (69 per cent) UK adults say they agree that the government should do more to reduce the impact of the climate crisis on the food supply chain to the UK, such as supporting coffee farmers in developing countries shift to sustainable and resilient methods of production.
The publication of the report — “Wake up and smell the coffee: The climate crisis and your coffee” — marks the start of Christian Aid Week, the UK’s longest running fundraising week dating back to 1957.
The report’s conclusion includes recommendations to boost climate finance to help farmers in diversification of livelihoods to climate resilient crops and cancelling unjust debts to help countries free up resources to tackle climate change and poverty.
The dire situation facing coffee farmers around the globe has not gone unnoticed. The Fairtrade Foundation, Mzuzu Coffee Cooperative in Malawi, UK-based Caturra Coffee Club and climate experts are speaking out on the impact of the climate crisis on coffee.
Mackson Ng’ambi, Chief Executive Officer of Mzuzu Coffee Cooperative in Malawi, said: “Our experience is that in a year where the early season rains have been poor or non-existent, coffee flowering has also been grossly poor. This is now a frequent recurrence.”
“The global coffee pricing should take into consideration that farmers are making more effort to maintain a field of coffee and hence increased cost of production. If this is not recognised and informs coffee prices, sadly most growers will abandon coffee farming.”
“There is also a need for direct funding that would benefit the small-scale coffee growers, such as access to low interest financing which is currently not available. If nothing is done, we should forget about coffee in a few years to come.”
The UK government has an opportunity to make a difference, according to Christian Aid’s Chief Executive, Patrick Watt. He said: “Small-scale coffee farmers are living on the frontline of the climate crisis, despite having contributed little to the problem of global warming.
“The UK government must wake up and smell the coffee. As a country that has benefitted far more than most from industrialisation, and has contributed disproportionately to the climate crisis, we have a particular responsibility to people whose livelihoods are under threat from climate change.”
–IANS