Climate Change: Brewing Uncertainty in the Bean Belt
By Dr. Steffen Schwarz
Few challenges weigh more heavily on coffee’s future than climate change. Coffee is a climate-sensitive crop, with both Arabica and Canephora varieties thriving only within narrow temperature and rainfall ranges. Even slight shifts in these conditions can significantly affect yields and reduce suitable cultivation areas.
Scientific consensus is sobering: if current warming trends continue, many of today’s coffee heartlands could become marginal by mid-century. Research from agronomists and organizations such as World Coffee Research and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests that up to half of the land now ideal for coffee may be unsuitable by 2050. Arabica is particularly vulnerable, requiring mild temperatures (18–22 °C) and specific rainfall patterns. One major study projects a 50% decline in global Arabica-suitable areas by mid-century due to rising heat, altered seasonal patterns, and increased pest and disease pressure. While Canephora tolerates heat better, it too faces losses if extreme events and droughts become more common.
Farmers are already seeing the effects of climate volatility. Recent years have brought severe droughts in Brazil’s Cerrado and Southeast (2014, 2020), a devastating black frost in Brazil’s coffee belt in July 2021 that destroyed millions of trees, prolonged drought and heat in Vietnam (2020–2023) reducing Canephora output, and excessive rains from shifting monsoons affecting Indonesia and Colombia. Events once considered rare now occur with alarming frequency. As one grower in Minas Gerais observed, “We used to count on the rains coming predictably; now nothing is predictable.” The result is more volatile yields and increasing difficulty in planning farm operations.
Projections show that many coffee zones will need to “migrate” to survive — often to higher elevations or latitudes. In Central America, current coffee zones may shrink sharply, pushing cultivation to limited high-altitude areas. East Africa’s highlands could remain suitable longer, but lowland regions will struggle. In Brazil, optimal zones may shift southward or into currently forested areas, risking deforestation. By 2100, without adaptation, major producers such as Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia could face steep production declines. The FAO’s climate risk mapping reinforces these trends, warning of steadily worsening coffee viability in key regions throughout the 21st century.
Adaptation Strategies in Motion
The coffee industry is responding with multi-pronged adaptation efforts. Breeding climate-resilient varieties is a priority, with researchers rediscovering and crossbreeding wild coffee species that withstand heat or drought, and developing cultivars resistant to coffee leaf rust. Seedlings of these improved varieties are being distributed to farmers.
Farm management practices are also shifting. Shade-grown systems are increasingly adopted, with canopy trees shielding coffee plants from extreme heat, preserving soil moisture, and fostering biodiversity. Enhanced irrigation and water management help mitigate drought stress, though costs remain a barrier for smallholders.
Policymakers and institutions are supporting these measures. The FAO’s ABC-Map tool (Adaptation, Biodiversity and Carbon Mapping) provides localized projections of crop suitability under different climate scenarios, enabling farmers and governments to plan long-term investments or consider alternative crops.
The Social and Geographic Shifts Ahead
Even with adaptation, some regions will inevitably become too hot or unpredictable for coffee. This poses serious social risks: millions of smallholders could lose their primary income, potentially driving poverty and migration. Organizations such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Fairtrade warn that without broader climate action, these challenges will intensify.
Conversely, climate change may open new opportunities. Regions at higher latitudes — such as parts of the southern United States, Uruguay, or northern Argentina — could become suitable for coffee cultivation. High-altitude zones previously too cold, including certain East African mountains, might also become viable. Emerging experiments in China’s Sichuan province and Nepal hint at possible future origins if microclimatic conditions align.
The July 2021 frost in Brazil remains a vivid reminder of climate volatility’s market impact, slashing Arabica harvest forecasts and driving global prices to decade highs. Conversely, drought in 2022–2023 produced different but equally disruptive effects. In today’s coffee sector, extreme events are becoming the norm, and “average weather” is an unreliable planning benchmark. As one analyst noted, “The only consistent trend is inconsistency.” This unpredictability complicates investment decisions for farmers, supply planning for buyers, and ultimately fuels market volatility — an issue closely tied to the financial dynamics we will explore next.
