African Fine Coffees Review Special Edition Oct-Dec - EAFCA

Mitigation of Impact
on Coffee Production The case for Climate
Change…..
An Inconvenient Truth
Climate change is increasingly
impacting business operations and
supply chains around the world.
Global coffee production is currently under
pressure from the impact of climate change.
New scientific evidence suggests that climate
change is accelerating at a much faster pace
than previously thought. In fact, Scientists
predict an increase in the frequency and
intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes
as well as the phenomena of El Nino and
La Nina. A vivid example is the recent
occurrence of the Super storm Sandy in
North America and the Caribbean Islands.
In the same vein the International Trade
Center (ITC) reports that important tipping
points leading to irreversible changes in
major earth systems and ecosystems may
already have been reached or even overtaken.
Furthermore, the International Coffee
Organisation (ICO) considers climate change
to be the most important factor affecting
future global coffee production.In this
regard, the African continent will be hit hard
by changing climate conditions and weather
extremes. The agricultural sector (which
includes the coffee subsector), which many
African countries base their economies on,
is one of the economic sectors hit hardest by
climate change. The smallholder subsector
is, no doubt, the most vulnerable to the
adverse impacts of climate change.
The causes of Climate Change…….
In order to mitigate the impact of
climate change on coffee production, it is
important to understand why the climate
is changing. The climate is currently
changing due to human activities such
as the large expansion of industry and
accelerated growth of population. It is
also attributed to the direct consequence
of burning petroleum, coal and natural
gas and to a lesser extent deforestation
and slash-and-burn agriculture. These
activities lead to the accumulation of
greenhouse gases in the atmospherewhich
generates “the greenhouse effect” by
tapping solar energy close to the surface
of the earth and impeding their return
back into space causing global warning
of the earth. The greenhouse effect is
a natural phenomenon that makes life
on the earth planet possible. The main
gases that make the greenhouse effect
are carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane
(CH 2 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). The 4C
Association reports that solar energy
heats the earth and as the temperature
increases, the heat is radiated back to
through the atmosphere as infrared
energy. This has an impact on the climate
with regard to temperature increase and
erratic rainfall patterns. These trends
culminate into the fluctuation of global
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