Coffee farmers in India who experience crop loss due to wild animals, drought, forest fires are not adequately compensated for their losses, said Sunil Nautiyal, director, GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE).
“Farmers in our country experience crop loss due to factors such as wild animals, drought, forest fires and more. However they are not adequately compensated for their losses. This is especially true for farmers with small land holdings,’‘ said Prof. Nautiyal. He was speaking in a panel discussion on “Rapid innovation, increased funding for research and scientific collaboration could mitigate impact of climate change on the coffee sector” at the 5th World Coffee Conference here on Wednesday.
According to experts who spoke, climate change has been brewing trouble for the global coffee industry, which can potentially change the dynamics of the global coffee production and supply chain, unless countries work towards mitigating its negative impact through rapid innovation, increased funding for research and scientific collaboration.
“There is a 66% chance that the global average temperatures will hit 1.5 degree Celsius above the present industrial temperatures in the next 5 years alone,’‘ cautioned Raina Lang, senior director, Sustainable Coffee, Conservation International (USA) during another session “Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change.”
To beat climate challenges, the industry experts urged the industry to grow resilient variants of coffee. “The biggest hurdle is that countries are not investing enough in research and development. Breeding climate resilient variants of the coffee bean is one key solution that coffee growing nations could benefit from if they collaborate on scientific research and knowledge exchange,’‘ stated Salvador Urrutia Loucel, Latin American Director, World Coffee Research.
Echoing similar sentiments, Aaron Davis, Kew Gardens (UK), said, “The sector needs to look at alternative coffee species beyond Arabica and Robusta – the two dominant varieties today – which can be resilient to rapid climate change.”
