Photo credit: Rainforest Alliance
The global coffee industry is at a crossroads. If the public and private sectors of both consuming and producing countries don’t join forces to address climate change and the problems that smallholders face, coffee is doomed to witness the extinction of distinction and go the way of the banana.
Last June, World Coffee Research (WCR) released a report on Coffee’s Innovation Crisis, which detailed the shocking lack of investment in coffee agriculture research and development (R&D). To meet the rising demand for coffee (2.5% a year) amongst the yearly yield (0.25%) and land area losses (0.46%) due to climate change, the industry needs an additional $452 million of investment funding per year. Ninety percent of the current $115 million annual innovation funding is estimated to come from the public sector.
Lack of funding isn’t the only problem. Many of the innovations and advancements made aren’t easily available to producers or don’t actually address their specific needs. High implementation costs, lack of access to technology, and insufficient education on sustainable and regenerative practices create a major disconnect between growers and innovators.
In an interview with STiR in March, Chris Kornman, Director of Education for Royal Coffee, stated the importance of R&D funding. “Distribution and research need to be subsidized. It needs to be paid for by the people who are interested in the results and have the money to do so and that usually means consuming countries. One of the things that World Coffee Research has done a fairly good job of is getting the word out there that this stuff is happening. They’re working with existing organizations basically to help guide and instruct… ultimately they’re raising awareness that we’re dramatically underfunded in the ability to research and then also in the ability to effectively distribute.”
Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia, the three major coffee-producing countries, invest heavily in advancements and mechanization to improve production and yields. However, a small coffee farmer in Uganda living below the poverty line cannot afford to do the same when it may take 3-5 years to see any returns on their investment.
The future of coffee diversity and distinction is under threat. Eventually, more smallholders will be forced to abandon coffee for other crops while the major producers continue to expand on an industrial scale. Like with the banana industry, coffee lovers will be left with a shallow pool of mediocre beans to choose from.
There are groups dedicated to addressing not only the issues smallholders face but also the creative and successful implementation of solutions. The Global Coffee Platform combines the resources of both consuming and producing governments, coffee farmer organizations, NGOs, and major coffee companies to act in real time on issues that critically affect coffee farmers. Democratically owned cooperatives effectively execute social innovations that dramatically improve the living and working conditions for growers and their families.
These complex problems can not be solved by one stakeholder or one aspect of the supply chain. If the global coffee industry can come together in unity, it will help save coffee’s individuality. Working together to solve problems from the bottom up is the way of the future.