Coffee, endangered?

  Did I hear it right? Coffee, endangered?

Yes, you heard it right! Let me ask you again, did you ever think that coffee has a high risk of becoming endangered? Well, read on. Frequent droughts, climate change and an increase in pests are the reason 60% of the world’s coffee species face high extinction risk and more than half of the world’s suitable coffee land will become unsuitable. Coffee, in general, requires very specific temperatures and is heat sensitive. As global warming is increasing, its crop yields are lowering and thee amount of coffee beans being cultivated is shrinking. This is why, in my opinion, climate change is the biggest threat to coffee crops. 

Arabica, the most popular cultivated coffee that accounts for 60% of global production, is included in the list of extinction too. It requires a temperature in the range of 23 to 28 degree celsius. In the next 60 years its growth will decrease by 85% unless action is taken immediately to prevent further global warming. 

Personally, I am a huge coffee lover. If there is not enough coffee to drink, my daily life will be impacted greatly. However, the extinction of coffee won't only affect such coffee lovers. Its impact on society is far more widespread than one can imagine. The global coffee market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5%. Overall, the industry is valued at $20 billion. Think of the economical impact its extinction will lead to. In my country, India, coffee exports account for $72.37 million annually. 

Looking at this issue through a global perspective, we can focus on Africa, the place where most of the world's coffee comes from. About 10 million farmers plant coffee in that continent. In Ethiopia, the place where coffee was discovered, the coffee industry generates up to 70% of the cash income for more than 90% of the population. 

Several coffee farmers have long felt the worrying trend of coffee’s chances of becoming extinct. Mercy Njambi, a coffee farmer in Kenya told DW, “We used to produce a lot of coffee. What we are harvesting now is nothing compared to 10, 20 or so years ago.” Another farmer shared his perspective on this issue saying, “People drink coffee all over the world. We ask them to help us because the environment is changing and soon you might not get to enjoy that cup of coffee.” Muthoni Schneidewind, the founder of the online shop Chania Coffee said, “My whole village relies on coffee, it is our heritage and we have to preserve it.”

After researching Africa's perspective, I decided that I wanted to understand this issue from a national perspective too. To look at this crisis from a national perspective, l conducted a survey for my fellow Indian citizens. The results of my survey conclude that 66.7% of people are coffee drinkers; further proof that coffee has a high demand. 54.2% did not know coffee was endangered. This is a wakeup call for us to start spreading more awareness about this issue since the majority is not clued in yet. When asked about possible causes for coffee to become extinct,  30% answered ‘climate change’.  

My personal perspective aligns with this since as I previously mentioned, I believe climate change is the most prominent cause, Another popular response was overconsumption. The good news is that 75% say the problem is solvable. 

My perspective is that in order to save coffee, we must curb the issue leading to its extinction- deforestation. We must find ways to reduce deforestation significantly because when trees are not cut, the climate will be as it is supposed to be, insects will reduce and droughts will not be frequent. The most effective ways to reduce deforestation are using less paper, reduce meat consumption, raise awareness and aligning incentives of all stakeholders such as the fellers and locals.

If we all work together, we can stop this precious commodity from becoming extinct, Jonathon Mead rightly said, "Sometimes the easiest way to solve a problem is to stop participating in the problem." Keeping this mind. let us take charge and work as determined green crusaders to solve the crisis of deforestation at hand. After all, the more the helping hands, the faster the task will be accomplished.

How has your perspective changed after reading this blog? Leave a comment and let me know<3