CLIMATE CHANGE COULD RUIN THE COFFEE MARKET
Climate change is making coffee a risky bet for Central America
Zach Dyer, November 14, 2014 (The Tico Times)
“Growing coffee — a reliable staple in Central America — has become increasingly risky in recent years as climate change has caused evermore extreme weather. But farmers who take on this heightened risk are not reaping greater rewards due to a constellation of factors from volatile coffee markets to droughts to inefficient management…Peter Baker, a senior scientist with CABI, an organization that focuses on commodities and climate change, said the Earth’s changing climate already is affecting coffee production in the region, but it is difficult to anticipate how. Baker said climate models suggest Central America will experience warmer, drier conditions, and more droughts like this year’s should be expected. As weather patterns become increasingly erratic, Baker said farmers should prepare for more extreme conditions and even diversify away from coffee…Climate change is widely blamed for the outbreak of a leaf rust fungus known as roya…[that] has caused $1 billion in damages to the regional economy and has been exacerbated by the isthmus’s aging coffee plants. Baker said that as base temperatures in Central America creep up, problems like roya would continue…” click here for more
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