A recent study based on primary data from eight sample coffee estates, chosen randomly from across the districts of Chikmagalur, Hassan and Kodagu districts, has concluded that climate change has made a direct impact on coffee production, the ecosystem and biodiversity.Ronald Anil Fernandes reports.
Can't do without your morning cuppa? Needless to say, you have company. Statistics substantiate this too. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil. What is not so well known is that coffee has been grown and consumed in India for almost 400 years and has many other benefits. Apart from contributing to biodiversity conservation, coffee plantations protect watersheds, generate rural livelihoods and soak up greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, there are over one million acres under plantation in India, providing employment to over a million workers.
However, the grower or producer of the cup that cheers goes through his/her share of problems, often dictated by the dynamics of the market. Apart from market forces, there are other factors at work as well. Climate change has made an adverse impact on coffee cultivation.
In fact, the International Coffee Organisation considers climate change as the most important among several factors that may affect global coffee production, with small holders (who produce most of the world's coffee) being the most vulnerable group.
Coffee is known to be a very difficult crop requiring specific climatic conditions — temperature and rainfall conditions being the two main drivers behind yield. The four major impacts of climate change on coffee production in the short run are the fall in quality of coffee bean; reduction in yield; increase in incidence of pests and disease and increase in expenditure pertaining to irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides.
In Karnataka, the main issues coffee growers face are erratic and variable rainfall, increasing temperature, degradation in soil quality and greater incidence of pest and disease.
This, in turn, has led to an exponential rise in cost of cultivation, with farmers becoming increasingly dependent on fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation. On the other hand, many of the small growers are unable to meet the rising production costs and remain in debt, which further affects their capacity to manage coffee cultivation in subsequent years.
Future bleak
The Centre for Social Markets, a Bangalore-based NGO, which conducted an extensive study on coffee plantations (both Arabica and Robusta varieties)in association with Karnataka Growers' Federation (KGF) based on primary data from eight sample estates of over 100 acres each, chosen randomly from across the districts of Chikmagalur, Hassan and Kodagu districts, has come to the conclusion that climate change has made a direct impact on coffee production, ecosystems and biodiversity.
The study also revealed that over 60 per cent of the labour force of the sample estates are women. In addition, coffee agroforests also act as secondary wildlife habitats for foraging and enabling wildlife movement between protected areas, while simultaneously helping maintain the flow of soil organic content, prevention of soil erosion and water recharge, in a capacity which is second only to that of natural forests.
Speaking to Spectrum, Centre for Social Markets Chief Executive Officer Viva Kermani said India's coffee sector faces numerous challenges and climate change is making it to the top of the list of challenges, and is arguably the most daunting one. Stating that the future for the coffee producer has become bleak, she said one just needs to visit the area to see how the coffee grower is struggling with unprecedented rise in temperatures, unseasonal rain, unusual weather patterns, coupled with shortage of labour.
Karnataka Growers' Federation President Pradeep added that the Federation was trying its best to safeguard the interests of the growers, by encouraging sustainable practices.
The 50,000-strong farmers' organisation head said that the growers too feel the heat of climate change. As a result, the CSM, in consultation with Green Initiatives for Smart Tomorrow (GIST) and Coffee Board, produced a study called 'Coffee to Go -The vital role of Coffee towards ecosystem services', which was launched at the prestigious COP 11 at the global Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) conference in Hyderabad in October, 2012 by Pavan Sukhdev, lead author of the TEEB report and UNEP's goodwill ambassador.
Ray of hope
But Anand Titus Pereira, who has authored a magnum opus on coffee titled 'Shade grown eco-friendly Indian coffee', has a ray of hope in spite of the adverse factors. Noting that India has been home to coffee for almost 200 years and has always been and still remains shade grown, he opines that with globalisation and liberalisation reaching the Indian shores, forest grown Indian coffee is making inroads in the West as a specialty coffee.
"Coffee grown under the shade of forest trees has a unique taste," he said, and attributed this uniqueness to the forest factor and the fact that coffee habitats are an integral part of multicrops, herbs and spices. Also, Indian coffee plantations harbour thousands of species of diverse and significant species of rare birds, insects and endangered wildlife. "The amazing fact is that the coffee habitat and nature bring out the best chemistry; sustaining each other's needs," he said.
Regretting the fact that the centuries-old commodity is still not mechanised, and more than 70 per cent of the work depends on labourers at a time when getting a labourer is a difficult task, the only hope is the government, which, according to him, can work wonders.
Noting the fact that coffee growers have neither been included in the 'industries' category nor 'agriculture' category, he said coffee growers do not get the benefits they ought to get. "Of course climate change is a huge cause for concern, but that is not in our hands alone," he notes.
Including the coffee growers either in the industries category or agriculture category would go a long way. If the government can support the coffee growers in terms of latest technology and financial inclusion, perhaps the growers can heave a sigh of relief, as coffee as a beverage has been growing at a rate of 24 per cent per year, which is perhaps much higher than any other commodity.
With Indian Robusta considered one of the finest in the world and with the mushrooming of indigenous and international outlets, there is a ray hope, if the stakeholders join hands for a cause.
Can't do without your morning cuppa? Needless to say, you have company. Statistics substantiate this too. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil. What is not so well known is that coffee has been grown and consumed in India for almost 400 years and has many other benefits. Apart from contributing to biodiversity conservation, coffee plantations protect watersheds, generate rural livelihoods and soak up greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, there are over one million acres under plantation in India, providing employment to over a million workers.
However, the grower or producer of the cup that cheers goes through his/her share of problems, often dictated by the dynamics of the market. Apart from market forces, there are other factors at work as well. Climate change has made an adverse impact on coffee cultivation.
In fact, the International Coffee Organisation considers climate change as the most important among several factors that may affect global coffee production, with small holders (who produce most of the world's coffee) being the most vulnerable group.
Coffee is known to be a very difficult crop requiring specific climatic conditions — temperature and rainfall conditions being the two main drivers behind yield. The four major impacts of climate change on coffee production in the short run are the fall in quality of coffee bean; reduction in yield; increase in incidence of pests and disease and increase in expenditure pertaining to irrigation, fertilisers and pesticides.
In Karnataka, the main issues coffee growers face are erratic and variable rainfall, increasing temperature, degradation in soil quality and greater incidence of pest and disease.
This, in turn, has led to an exponential rise in cost of cultivation, with farmers becoming increasingly dependent on fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation. On the other hand, many of the small growers are unable to meet the rising production costs and remain in debt, which further affects their capacity to manage coffee cultivation in subsequent years.
Future bleak
The Centre for Social Markets, a Bangalore-based NGO, which conducted an extensive study on coffee plantations (both Arabica and Robusta varieties)in association with Karnataka Growers' Federation (KGF) based on primary data from eight sample estates of over 100 acres each, chosen randomly from across the districts of Chikmagalur, Hassan and Kodagu districts, has come to the conclusion that climate change has made a direct impact on coffee production, ecosystems and biodiversity.
The study also revealed that over 60 per cent of the labour force of the sample estates are women. In addition, coffee agroforests also act as secondary wildlife habitats for foraging and enabling wildlife movement between protected areas, while simultaneously helping maintain the flow of soil organic content, prevention of soil erosion and water recharge, in a capacity which is second only to that of natural forests.
Speaking to Spectrum, Centre for Social Markets Chief Executive Officer Viva Kermani said India's coffee sector faces numerous challenges and climate change is making it to the top of the list of challenges, and is arguably the most daunting one. Stating that the future for the coffee producer has become bleak, she said one just needs to visit the area to see how the coffee grower is struggling with unprecedented rise in temperatures, unseasonal rain, unusual weather patterns, coupled with shortage of labour.
Karnataka Growers' Federation President Pradeep added that the Federation was trying its best to safeguard the interests of the growers, by encouraging sustainable practices.
The 50,000-strong farmers' organisation head said that the growers too feel the heat of climate change. As a result, the CSM, in consultation with Green Initiatives for Smart Tomorrow (GIST) and Coffee Board, produced a study called 'Coffee to Go -The vital role of Coffee towards ecosystem services', which was launched at the prestigious COP 11 at the global Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) conference in Hyderabad in October, 2012 by Pavan Sukhdev, lead author of the TEEB report and UNEP's goodwill ambassador.
Ray of hope
But Anand Titus Pereira, who has authored a magnum opus on coffee titled 'Shade grown eco-friendly Indian coffee', has a ray of hope in spite of the adverse factors. Noting that India has been home to coffee for almost 200 years and has always been and still remains shade grown, he opines that with globalisation and liberalisation reaching the Indian shores, forest grown Indian coffee is making inroads in the West as a specialty coffee.
"Coffee grown under the shade of forest trees has a unique taste," he said, and attributed this uniqueness to the forest factor and the fact that coffee habitats are an integral part of multicrops, herbs and spices. Also, Indian coffee plantations harbour thousands of species of diverse and significant species of rare birds, insects and endangered wildlife. "The amazing fact is that the coffee habitat and nature bring out the best chemistry; sustaining each other's needs," he said.
Regretting the fact that the centuries-old commodity is still not mechanised, and more than 70 per cent of the work depends on labourers at a time when getting a labourer is a difficult task, the only hope is the government, which, according to him, can work wonders.
Noting the fact that coffee growers have neither been included in the 'industries' category nor 'agriculture' category, he said coffee growers do not get the benefits they ought to get. "Of course climate change is a huge cause for concern, but that is not in our hands alone," he notes.
Including the coffee growers either in the industries category or agriculture category would go a long way. If the government can support the coffee growers in terms of latest technology and financial inclusion, perhaps the growers can heave a sigh of relief, as coffee as a beverage has been growing at a rate of 24 per cent per year, which is perhaps much higher than any other commodity.
With Indian Robusta considered one of the finest in the world and with the mushrooming of indigenous and international outlets, there is a ray hope, if the stakeholders join hands for a cause.