Will coffee go extinct or just move

Posted on: 2016-05-13 11:39 AM

Coffee lovers have another reason to help conserve the environment. Experts predict that the climate change will also affect coffee production and in turn, will result to lower yield and even scarcity in supply of coffee beans.
 
A study by MIT found out that coffee production is under threat.  According to the study, if the warming of the Earth continues at this rate, 80 percent of the Arabica-coffee producing areas in Brazil and Central America will be "unsuitable to the crop by 2050, according to research by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture."
 
It added that the supply could eventually be cut by 50% resulting to higher price and lower production. The agriculture industry will also suffer including the coffee farmers. Your supply of coffee as you know it is definitely at risk," said Bambi Semroc of the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business at Conservation International.
According to MIT Technology Review, the most company most worried about the decline in coffee production due to climate change is Starbucks.
 
Starbucks, which is the largest seller of coffee worldwide is one of the companies most worried about climate change is. It has responded both by working with farmers to improve their ability to grow coffee in a warming climate and by trying to reduce the company's own environmental impact. As well as investing in studies on coffee farming and cultivation, they have a network of farmers around the globe who grow and produce their high-standard coffee beans. Directing their farming efforts are progressing but are far from a broad fix.
 
Starbucks is quoted as saying "Today 99 percent of its coffee, more than 400 million pounds each year, complies" with their own standard of coffee production.
The coffee chain is also well aware of the threat brought about by climate change. They have also invested in studies to help their farmers grow coffee in warmer conditions. They also initiated efforts to lower the environmental impact from their company.
 
But the efforts of one company alone aren’t enough to fix the problem. MIT added that the known coffee producers like Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil and Tanzania have already "begun to see a decline in coffee farmer's yields."
 
While we are all aware of the environmental effects of green house gases like the melting of the ice caps and the changes in climate, we need also consider that global warming has caused an increase in the arable land available. According to UN experts in Land and Water Development global food production has been growing faster than human populations. What we’re possibly seeing is a shift of agriculture that would require a huge investment over time in new coffee plantations. Time will tell whether coffee will actually go extinct but the changes to the climate will definitely have an impact on the cost and distribution supply chain.