Coffee could disappear off Irish shelves by 2050 due to climate change, Fairtrade Ireland has warned.
The charity explained that coffee beans, cocoa and other foods grown in hotter climates may become extremely rare and expensive treats within the next three decades.
“We could be looking at the end of the much-loved cup of coffee,” Fairtrade Ireland’s Executive Director, Peter Gaynor said at the launch of their annual Fairtrade Fortnight event in the Mansion House.
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Mr Gaynor said that farmers are facing "serious challenges" growing beans due to extreme weather events and by 2050, up to half of the world’s land currently used to farm coffee may be unusable due to floods, droughts and increased temperatures.
“Farmers who grow coffee beans are experiencing serious challenges due to many extreme weather events, such as in Kenya, East Africa, which is right now experiencing its worst drought on-record," he said. "A worrying 93% of the Fairtrade coffee farmers in Kenya surveyed are already experiencing the effects of climate change."
Mr Gaynor added: "We Irish are very fond of our tea, and bananas and increasingly of our coffee. But the question now is what’s going to happen to our food given the increasing impact of climate change on the 500m small farmers who grow most of the world’s food?”
The charity also had some positive news and revealed that Fairtrade coffee sales are higher than they were in 2019 after suffering a 30% reduction in sales during the pandemic.
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