Coffee is among the most popular beverages in the world. But climate change is threatening its production. Soon, growing coffee won’t be economically viable.
There are prices that in no way do justice to the work involved in growing coffee. We need a different approach. How can the livelihoods of millions of coffee farmers be saved and with it, our cappuccino and espresso too?
In Ecuador’s rainforest, by the Rio Napo, this man is on a business trip. But he’s not your stereotypical businessman. Andreas Felsen is concerned about people not just the bottom line.
It’s important to him to get to know his coffee growers. We’re meeting with one of our two partners here in the region, in the Amazon lowlands. We visit these cooperatives regularly twice a year That’s necessary to build trust and maintain the relationship with them.
As you can imagine, the people here have been taken advantage of by white people for the last 500 years. And because of that, there was zero trust at first. Felsen got involved in the industry 30 years ago with a handful of likeminded people.
They wanted to change the coffee world. They were happy to pay more for the beans than the low wages that were standard more, in fact, than the fair trade companies that already existed back then. Their idea was to import directly from the producers, cutting out the middlemen.
Bienvenido. Bienvenido. Together with his colleague Sven Ostendorf, the pioneer is visiting the coffee cooperative “Waylla Kuri” green gold in the Kichwa language.
High-ranking members of the Indigenous community are there to welcome the two Germans. 120 smallholders have joined forces to explore new ways of doing business. The initiative was set up by Augusto Salazar.
It’s the middlemen who profit the most. That’s why small producers like us have banded together to be stronger and to be able to guarantee consistent quality and yields. They are worried about a new EU regulation that only allows imports of products, such as coffee, that have not involved any deforestation since December 2020.
The Kichwa take no part in destructive practices like forest clearing, but how they can prove that? A topic of discussion with their German partners. The European Union passes laws like that because it doesn’t trust you as producers.
Yet we Indigenous peoples guarantee a sustainable, environmentally-friendly cultivation. The EU regulations are intended to stamp out practices that were common in recent decades. Forests were frequently cleared to make way for coffee plantations some 100,000 hectares a year worldwide.
That’s because harvesting machines are more easily deployed in large fields where nothing else grows except coffee. They replace the work of hundreds of pickers. But monocultures require an enormous amount of fertilizer.
And that damages the environment. Deforestation, like in Brazil, also releases huge amounts of CO2. In the hot sun, the coffee plants also cannot survive without irrigation and that, too, has an enormous impact on natural resources.
One cup of coffee alone requires an average of some 130 liters of water that’s nearly a whole bathtub. And 80 grams of harmful greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere per cup the equivalent of driving half a kilometer by car. Here by the Rio Napo in northern Ecuador, Indigenous coffee growers work in a completely different way, including Oskar Grefa.
What a difference when you walk in here. Already feels milder. Pleasant.
There’s a big difference in the humidity and shade. The cultivation methods used by the Indigenous Kichwa community are hailed worldwide as a shining example of agroforestry. The trees provide the coffee plants with shade while preserving biodiversity the alternative to big monocultures.
We always work with the trees here. We call the system “Chakra. ” It’s traditional agroforestry.
The trees help supply nutrients to the soil which other plants absorb. They produce more fruit that way. For us, it’s important to have trees, medicinal plants, and other plants that we can eat.
These coffee plants thrive in the leafy shade of other trees. The air is cooler and the soil more moist. Banana plants or cacoa trees provide shade, for example, and an additional income stream.
A certain combination of plants also makes for more nutrient-rich soil, which benefits the coffee plants. That way they need less fertilizer, little irrigation, and are less vulnerable to pests. Plus, a healthy forest stores a lot of CO2 and preserves biodiversity.
There’s a buriti palm growing back there. Here we have balsa trees. Balsa wood can be used for construction and for furniture.
It’s good wood. Those are legumes, which also add nutrients to the soil. And there are more plant species back there.
The community jointly owns some 40,000 hectares. One half they cultivate, the other half remains untouched rainforest. Thanks to some 60 different crops they grow, the people here are largely self-sufficient.
For Augusto Salazar, it’s a way of marrying the past with the future. This helps us to bring humans and nature into harmony with one another. For us, each tree has a life, a spirit.
Indigenous peoples have fought to ensure the right to nature. Ecuador has become a pioneer in nature conservation. In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize the rights of nature in its constitution.
That meant, for example, halting plans to expand gold and copper mining. But nature conservation is most successful when people’s livelihoods are secured. Andreas Felsen is doing his part with his socially-minded enterprise.
One café in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg has something special to offer: Here, coffee fans like Sophie von Loeben can live out their passion. And she’s not the only one who wants to learn something from Francis Bratz-Lersch. Does it have to be 50 exactly?
It should be exact. The coffee connoisseur runs a “co-roasting space” where he shares his roasting machines and know-how with people new to the coffee business, like Sophie von Loeben. She’s not just a coffee lover, but a researcher and an entrepreneur.
Alongside my research, I run a small coffee business as a hobby. Really just to see: What’s out there? Is there any demand?
How does it taste? And, above all, to raise awareness about coffee and climate change. It’s become very popular for people to roast their own beans.
But across the industry, many are concerned about how climate change is impacting coffee cultivation. I’m worried that there might be no coffee one day. That’s why I’m passionate about supporting every project that comes to us.
So coffee that’s produced sustainably and transparently gets sold in Germany. Sophie von Loeben is experimenting with varieties of coffee that can cope with climatic extremes. One in Uganda is showing potential.
We can only advise the farmers to produce it when we know there’s a market. We can’t just tell them to switch to it if no one will ultimately want it. That’s why taste is so important and considering how we can improve it.
Coffee that withstands difficult climatic conditions AND tastes good that’s her goal. Different varieties are tasted and compared at “cupping” events. Coffee has hundreds and hundreds of aromas twice as many, in fact, as wine.
Which coffee do you find most exciting? From the first smell, I’d probably say number 18. I don’t know, let’s see!
When you smell it, there’s a certain sweetness and fruitiness in the background a berry aroma to be more exact. That ultimately eclipses the first impression. But what you taste first… Yeah, it’s not bad… 18, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Some lesser-known types of coffee beans could have what it takes.
With a little bit more experimentation, some of them could really sell. Sophie von Loeben works as an agricultural economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. She examines how climate change is putting the livelihoods of millions of farmers and their families at risk in coffee-growing regions.
Coffee plays a big role in her life. Coffee is a part of my life in many different ways. As a big coffee lover, I drink an awful lot of it.
Plus, I research coffee because there’s practically no other plant that so clearly tells the story of the impact of climate change on agriculture in the global south. And demonstrates why we need to adapt agriculture in these regions. And we all somehow have an emotional relationship to coffee.
And when we hear that our favorite drink is running low, then we all listen up. Which coffee plants are best suited to withstand climate change? The agricultural economist is trying to find an answer to this question with David Abigaba and Sophia Weituschat in Uganda in East Africa.
Like here we have a definite difference in the elevation, in the altitude that we’re looking at. So, even if these are close, the agroecological zone is probably not comparable. As we can see here on the maps, climate change will negatively impact coffee production in Uganda.
So the approaches need to adapt accordingly. What we’re now looking at in our research is whether Liberica, a type of coffee that also comes from Uganda and is increasingly being cultivated by farmers there, would be an option for adapting to climate change on a large scale in Uganda. The problem is that the two most common types of coffee, Arabica and Robusta, only grow in the so-called coffee belt.
They need a stable tropical climate to grow. By 2050, climate change threatens to make half of those regions unsuitable for cultivation. This not only has effects on the coffee drinkers, but also on the ecosystem as a whole.
Because of the increased demand for coffee versus the suitability losses that are project in the future people might be forced to start growing coffee in ecologically fragile areas, for example protected areas, wildlife protected areas and forests, which is not ecologically good. To avoid that from happening, how can existing plantations be saved? Liberica, a rediscovered wild coffee variety, could be part of the answer.
It appears to be more resilient to drought and pest infestation. But this is no quick fix. Introducing new types of coffee to the global market is definitely a long-term project.
We’re talking about systemic change, which needs time not least because the coffee plant is a tree. So it takes a little while to get from planting to the first harvest to establishing it on the world market. To make headway with the project in Uganda, the researchers are gathering knowledge on the ground.
In South America, Ecuador is also part of the tropical coffee belt. Hamburg-based importer Andreas Felsen regularly visits his business partners. This coffee cooperative recently invested in these drying beds.
We wash the coffee twice and that's it. There's still a little pulp here. This one is more fermented.
With the pulp still attached, the coffee becomes more chocolatey. Yes, it’s sweeter. Buyers are prepared to pay more for high-quality coffee when it caters to different tastes.
The collaboration between the pair has more than doubled the income of the coffee farmers here. This is a ventilated tent. The air can get in and circulate quite well.
These nets beneath the coffee are made of plastic. The coffee dries slowly and evenly here. This is about the most modern system we can imagine having.
It doesn’t run on electricity or gas it's nice and slow. This slow drying process means that the coffee not only arrives at our plant in very good quality, but that it also retains its quality for longer. In contrast to other producers, the coffee cooperative doesn’t have to shoulder the risks of such investments alone.
Felsen pays in advance, six months before the harvest. This was a good year. He’ll receive over 14 tons, or 210 sacks.
Here we already have 12, 24, 36, 40 sacks. Good, and another 40, 50 are drying. I fell in love with this type of coffee cultivation and structure from the very start.
It’s completely in line with my ideals of democracy and sustainability. It’s a great joy for me to try to act as a mouthpiece for them and as a facilitator for their ideas, and with the help of the coffee they grow, to convey them in Germany, where we’re bringing the coffee. Germany is the second largest coffee importer in the world.
Felsen's shipment is destined for Hamburg. The port city profited from colonialism, and it remains an important trading hub for coffee beans today. Felsen named his coffee roasting company after Don Quixote, the knight who fought windmills.
Coffee is traditionally a nasty colonial product with every negative connotation imaginable. There’s child labor, exploitation, and there are prices that in no way do justice to the work involved in growing coffee. We need a different approach.
Typically, just 10% of the profit stays in the country where the coffee was grown. The rest is swallowed by transport, wholesalers, and production companies Nestlé especially. Global market prices fluctuate greatly.
The minimum price Fairtrade sets per pound of washed Arabica coffee beans is $1. 80. According to Fairtrade, the price would have to be significantly higher to actually secure people’s livelihoods.
In Peru, for example, it would have to be $2. 50 per pound. Andreas Felsen pays about $3.
50. And his business is still doing well. From the start, our output has grown on average by ten tons a year amid rising demand.
But demand has always been much bigger than our production capacity. So it’s unthinkable that we’ll ever be able to meet the demand. With our direct trade and our transparent policies to show this is not some idealistic pipe dream it was always important for us to function commercially, to be economically successful.
In Uganda, Sophie von Loeben is on the road with Tony Mugoya, the head of a coffee farmers alliance, to find out more about the Liberica bean. One thing that I would like to capture a little bit better again is actually the yields. 70% of farmers said that one of the reasons they’re growing Liberica is because of the higher yields.
Yes, but there’s a difference between yield potential and the average yield. Tony Mugoya comes from a coffee-growing family himself. He built up the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance.
Today, he’s its director. He’s showing the agricultural economist around and answering her questions. I think one thing that I’m really interested now about is to understand the two types of Liberica coffee.
Yes, yes, yes. Maybe if he could actually even show us the trees? So you are welcome to the chairman’s home.
You can see the chairman is already there trying to dry his coffee on the tarpaulin, which is recommended. They’re visiting Davis Kuloba, a coffee farmer with a lot of experience. Which coffee is this one you’re drying?
Which type of coffee? Liberica. Liberica coffee.
Ah, nice. Over the past years, he’s been experimenting with growing the unusual coffee plant that the German researcher is so passionate about. Aha, OK.
We also know of other wild coffee varieties that are really very promising in terms of resistance to drought or how they taste, but they’re just not yet being actively cultivated commercially. And Liberica, as we can see here, is already being cultivated. Therefore, it’s a relatively promising and easier avenue to introduce this new type of coffee to the global market and get it widely distributed.
One reason alternatives are so sought after can be seen right here. The popular Robusta is increasingly being attacked by pests due to big changes in the climate. Twig borer on this traditional Robusta coffee.
So one of the signs of twig borer is you see discoloration on one side of the young stem. Liberica is already being blended with other types of coffee and sales are increasing. For the farmer, this means he can continue to pay the school fees for his eight children.
Sophie von Loeben and her team want to document and substantiate the farmer's experiences in a project that will run over several years. They’re comparing 800 farms that grow different types of coffee plants. However, there are good reasons why the resilient Liberica has not yet prevailed.
They suspect that it’s precisely this thick, long trunk that protects Liberica from drought and heat. Oh my God, this looks very dangerous. Harvesting in the treetops is quite the challenge.
The Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance wants to organize financial support for Liberica farmers to compensate for the strenuous harvest. Mugoya is campaigning for this because he sees the wild coffee plant as a glimmer of hope for the whole country. So coffee’s Uganda's leading agricultural export commodity and we think that Liberica coffee gives us an opportunity to continue exporting coffee in the long term and also to provide a variety of coffees to the world: Arabicas, Robustas and now Libericas.
Supporting courageous farmers like Davis Kuloba is just the beginning for the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance. The next day, Tony Mugoya invites the German researcher to a new factory. The machine cleans the coffee to prepare it for export.
We have a small destoner here which removes any stones if they’ve escaped. This one? Yes.
And then we have a magnet below here. They’re investing in the processing of coffee beans so that more money stays in the country. Mugoya's alliance brings tangible benefits to its members, such as more favorable conditions for bank loans.
It’s also good for farmers because they are able to benefit from the addition of value that you get through milling, through grading, through export. Every stage has an increase in price that goes back to the farmers. So, this is a value addition opportunity for our farmers who are around this factory.
They’re testing whether Liberica beans can be processed in the same way as more common varieties. If so, they wouldn’t have to invest in new machines and Liberica could be brought to market more quickly. Does this variety offer hope for the future of coffee?
It looks as if Liberica coffee can be processed using the same machines as Robusta coffee. And that's good, because if the farmers grow the coffee to the highest standards and then it’s processed here to the highest standard, then there’s a good chance the end product will be high-quality coffee that tastes good. In Uganda, the future of coffee has already begun.
With her research, the agricultural economist from Potsdam wants to help ensure the success of Liberica. When you plant a coffee tree, you only get the full harvest after about three to five years. A coffee tree is harvested for an average of 30 years, often even longer.
That means that the coffee that we plant today is the coffee we’ll be drinking in 2050, perhaps beyond that. And that’s a time when we already have very frightening climate predictions. That’s why it’s so important that we act now.
The people here want to keep their jobs, the country its exports, and coffee fans their cappuccino. The sustainable coffee from the Ecuadorian cooperative has arrived in Germany. Importer Andreas Felsen is delivering it personally.
Coffee from Ecuador. Fantastic! Let’s put it down here.
Fairness is a central tenet of this small roastery in Lüneburg also guaranteed by Andreas Felsen's direct imports. The Avenir collective is committed to practicing what it preaches. Everyone earns the same and is involved in managing the business.
The roasting process produces the desired aromas. What can you smell? Exactly the smell we’re after.
In the early stage of medium-dark espresso, I smell caramelized nuts, a few spicy aromas. As the caramelization increases, the coffee smells less and less sweet and fruity and more bitter, malty and like caramel. But coffee and the reality of how its produced can leave a bitter aftertaste: Almost half of all smallholder coffee farmers live in poverty.
I really hope that something will fundamentally change in the coffee market. Because there are still very few direct coffee importers like Quijote, for example. Far too few.
Andreas Felsen has already helped a dozen new roasteries get off the ground with his company Quijote Kaffee. The pioneer is more than happy to share his expertise. It’s important for me to have an approach to coffee that allows me to look at myself in the mirror.
I can do that, and I’ve worked in this industry for 30 years. I look forward to my work every day and to make this possible in the future, we need to work in a very idealistic way. The industry is changing.
Resilient coffee varieties, sustainable cultivation, and fairer trade conditions that’s what will help safeguard the future of coffee.
