Colombia's coffee industry is affected by drought and strikes and road closures!

According to Colombian media reports, the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environment (Ideam) recently reported that although the end of El Ni ñ o was announced in July, the aftermath is still affecting Colombia. At present, the period from August to September is the summer and dry season in Colombia, with a hot and very dry climate.

As a result, the water level of several reservoirs, which mainly supply the Colombian capital Bogota, is not optimistic and has been on alert in recent months. Recently, the situation of the reservoir has deteriorated, the water level of the reservoir is falling sharply, and there will be a serious water shortage for the capital Bogota and several nearby areas.

It is reported that Kundinamaka province, where the capital Bogota is located, has three main sources of water supply, the largest of which is the Gorillas Dam (Chingaza), which provides 70 per cent of the water resources, and the rest is provided by reservoirs in the north and south. But the most serious situation is the Gorillas Dam, which includes the San Rafael and Chusa reservoirs, of which Chusa has the largest storage capacity, normally about 220 million cubic meters of water.

In early August, Gorillas Dam also provided more than 52% of the water used in capacity, but so far, it is gradually declining, and this week the dam's production reached only 38.84%. The situation is critical because the volume of the reservoir depends on rainfall in the Orinokia basin, but rainfall has been low so far this year, with no rain for most of the time, so the use of water for available capacity is decreasing. In addition, the water level of the reservoir in the north of the capital also showed a downward trend, increasing supply pressure.

In fact, as early as early April this year, Colombia reported a shortage of water resources, and the country also entered a state of natural disasters. At the end of April, Colombia began to enter the rainy season in order to alleviate the drought, but the rainfall did not meet expectations and could not completely solve the drought. In early July, Colombia entered the dry season, which once again exacerbated the drought and continues to this day.

In addition, drought and hot weather continue in South America, and many countries in South America have been hit by fires, and Colombia is no exception. The largest fire in the southwestern province of Cauca in nearly 30 years was reported earlier, which had a serious impact on many parts of the province. A large number of crops such as coffee were destroyed, and the surrounding water sources were also affected.

As a result, the Colombian drinking Water and basic Sanitation Regulatory Commission (CRA) recently announced a series of stricter measures to manage and save water consumption. A more serious charging system will be implemented for users who exceed the established water limits. In addition to self-employed, penalties will also be imposed on companies that fail to meet their water loss reduction targets, as well as a series of penalties on bulk water supply contracts to control and reduce large water consumption.

This is undoubtedly a challenge for the country's coffee industry, as it limits current water consumption, and many experts call on agricultural industries such as coffee and bananas to adopt more effective irrigation techniques to optimize water use rather than random use. It is reported that due to the current arid climate and limited rainfall in Colombia, coffee plants need to use more water to irrigate, lack of water will not be conducive to coffee growth, if increased irrigation may exceed the established water restrictions resulting in fines.

And coffee exports are also in crisis. At the end of August, the Colombian government issued a new fuel policy, eliminating fuel subsidies and raising the price of diesel per gallon. After the policy was released, it aroused opposition from car-related practitioners, especially truck drivers. Roads across Colombia have been blocked, which was launched by truck drivers on September 2, and communication between the government and strikers failed to solve the problem.

Originally, road closures were only implemented in areas near the capital, but now the situation has intensified, with drivers protesting and road closures in other provinces. The serious impact is the province of Cauca Valley, which is the location of Colombia's main port, affecting the normal freight logistics and directly affecting the export of coffee from the producing areas to the port. Therefore, many people in the industry are worried that due to the outbreak of national protest letters and road closures in 2021, coffee exports were almost zero in May of that year, and if this strike cannot be resolved in a short period of time, it will greatly affect the export of coffee and other products.

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