"Along with the rest of Colombia, the family has enjoyed a historic harvest amid surging global coffee prices, which hit record highs for the second year in a row in 2025. Severe US tariffs imposed on Brazil and Vietnam, the world's two largest coffee producers as well as poor harvests there, helped drive the surge."
"Colombian coffee is not immune to the climate crisis. Average mountain temperatures have risen by about 1.2C since the 1980s, and the hours of sunlight have decreased by roughly 19%. Farmers connect these changes to increased droughts, heavier rains, and more pests and diseases."
"As the climate crisis deepens, Latin America's coffee producers from the steep hillsides of Central America to the forests of Brazil and the Andean slopes of Colombia are facing an existential threat. While global markets still project an image of abundance, small farmers across the region are struggling with rising costs, unpredictable weather and a shrinking workforce."
Colombia's coffee farmers, including fourth-generation cultivators like Mary Luz Perez Arrubla, experienced record global coffee prices in 2025 due to poor harvests in Brazil and Vietnam caused by El Niño conditions. However, despite this historic harvest opportunity, some Colombian crops rotted unharvested, revealing deeper structural problems. Average mountain temperatures have risen 1.2°C since the 1980s, sunlight hours decreased by 19%, and farmers report increased droughts, heavy rains, pests, and diseases. Projections indicate yields may decline 8% in lower-altitude areas but rise 16% at higher elevations by 2060. Latin American coffee producers face an existential threat from climate change, rising costs, unpredictable weather, and workforce shortages, forcing many to reconsider farming viability.
#climate-change-impact #coffee-industry-crisis #agricultural-sustainability #labor-shortage #latin-american-farming
Read at www.theguardian.com
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