Ethiopian coffee climate

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Ethiopian coffee climate

If you like coffee, there's one more reason to pay attention to climate change. Ethiopia, an important coffee producer, will be greatly affected if global warming is not curbed, and at worst nearly 60 per cent of the country's coffee-producing areas may no longer be suitable for growing coffee crops, a new study says.

Ethiopia is the largest exporter of coffee beans in Africa, and most of its coffee beans are of high quality. In Ethiopia, growing coffee crops is the livelihood of about 15 million farmers, and coffee bean exports account for 1/4 of the country's total export earnings.

Researchers at the Kew Botanical Garden, the Royal Botanical Garden, worked with their Ethiopian counterparts to speculate on the impact of climate change on coffee-growing areas in Ethiopia, combining remote sensing satellite data, field surveys and computer models. Coffee cultivation is reduced due to rising temperatures and reduced rainfall. In a few decades, 60% of Ethiopia's coffee farm land may be unusable.

The study found that Ethiopian coffee farmers had to move their farms soon. Scientists have found that they need to move crops to more suitable areas of the country, which can not only maintain coffee production, but also improve the quality of coffee beans.

Coffee production in Ethiopia has been declining over the past few years, forcing farmers to seek land elsewhere, and the region's economy has also been affected. About 15 million people in Ethiopia work in the coffee industry, and the country's annual coffee exports total about US $800m. The loss of coffee crops is devastating for farmers and the local economy.

According to the latest study, Harald, Ethiopia's main coffee-producing region, is likely to disappear in the next century. Farmers need to relocate coffee plantations to higher elevations.

The results, published in the new issue of the British journal Natural plants, show that if temperatures continue to rise and no response is taken, 39% to 59% of Ethiopia's existing coffee producing areas may no longer be suitable for growing coffee crops by the end of the century.

However, the study also said that if comprehensive measures, including the transfer of coffee growing areas, forest conservation and restoration, were taken early to deal with the threats, the area suitable for coffee cultivation in Ethiopia could be increased at least fourfold. The report also classifies coffee-growing areas according to the extent to which they are affected by climate change for reference by policy makers.

As the hometown of coffee, thousands of years of planting history and processing tradition in Ethiopia have created high-quality washed Arabica beans. Light baking has unique sweet aromas of lemon, flowers and honey, soft acidity and citrus flavors, fresh and bright on the palate. No milk or sugar, let the rich texture and unique soft flower scent brush your taste buds, leaving an endless aftertaste.

Yega Xuefei is a small town, 700-2100 meters above sea level, synonymous with Ethiopian boutique coffee. It has been a wetland since ancient times. The ancient saying "Yirga" means "settle down" and "Cheffe" means "wetland". The mode of production and flavor of coffee here is so outstanding that Ethiopian coffee farmers compete to be proud of the flavor of their coffee, making it the most famous coffee producing area in Africa.

At first, Yejassefi's coffee trees were planted by European monks, and later by farmers or cooperatives. Yega Xuefei is actually constructed by the surrounding coffee communities or cooperatives, including: Hafusha, Hama, Biloya.

These mountain villages are foggy, like spring all year round, with a gentle breeze in summer, cool but not hot, rain but not damp, and no cold damage in winter, giving birth to a unique regional flavor of citrus and flowers. Coffee trees are mostly planted in farmers' own backyards or mixed with other crops in the field.

Ethiopia's geographical environment is very suitable for coffee growth. Coffee is mainly grown in the southern highlands between 1100 and 2300 meters above sea level. The main coffee producing areas are Harar, Limu, Djimma, Sidamo, Kaffa, Yergacheffe and Wellega. The soil in these areas is well drained, slightly acidic and red loose.

Ethiopian coffee is harvested once a year. The beautiful white coffee flowers bloom from March to April, and then the fruit begins to grow. From September to December, the red coffee fruit is ripe for picking. The new season of coffee begins to be exported from November to December.

At present, about 25% of the Ethiopian population directly or indirectly depends on coffee production for a living. The majority of farmers use traditional planting methods. Artificial care of coffee trees, the use of organic fertilizers, do not use harmful pesticides and herbicides, etc. Therefore, most of the coffee produced by Ethiopia is organic coffee.

There are four major coffee systems throughout the farm coffee.

Forest coffee, semi-forest coffee, pastoral coffee, farm coffee

Forest Coffee (Forest Coffee)

Refers to wild coffee, which accounts for 10% of Ethiopia's national output and is distributed in the wild coffee forest areas of the west and southwest, also known as the Kafa forest. The dense trees here provide the most natural shade for coffee trees and do not need manual care. Mother Earth is in charge of birth, aging, sickness and death, and coffee farmers can go directly to the woodland to harvest.

Half Forest Coffee (semi-Forest Coffee)

Refers to semi-wild coffee, distributed in the western and southwestern Cafa forests, accounting for 35% of Ethiopia's coffee production.

In order to increase the yield, the farmers of the forest coffee system will each choose a small piece of wild woodland and artificially trim the branches and leaves that are too dense to balance shade and sunlight, assist coffee trees in photosynthesis and growth, and weed once a year to increase coffee production. In other words, the system uses a semi-natural and semi-artificial way to cultivate coffee trees.

Rural Coffee (Garden coffee)

Farmers plant coffee trees in their backyards or fields and mix them with other crops. Although the density of coffee trees is the lowest, with only 1000 to 1,800 trees per hectare, it is the most popular because the hybrid method best meets the livelihood needs of farmers and is currently the main mode of cultivation of coffee in Ethiopia. The small-scale farming system of pastoral coffee is mainly distributed in Sidamo and the southeast in the south. The coffee output of this system reaches 50% of Ethiopia and is getting more and more attention. The government is vigorously promoting the cultivation of pastoral coffee.

Cut coffee on the farm

This system adopts modern agronomic management, and there are regulations on fennel breeding, pruning, fertilization, spraying, planting density and so on. It is the only non-organic cultivation method at present, but it only accounts for 5% of the national annual output.