In the future, Ethiopia will produce less special varieties of coffee, which are valued by lovers around the world. The cause will be climate change as a result of global warming, which will lead to the disappearance of territories suitable for the cultivation of the Category Specialty COFFEE. The conclusion came to German scientists of the St.Dama Institute of Studying Climate Changes, whose article was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to Abel Chemura, the leading author of scientific work, the area of agricultural land, which are only suitable for growing medium-sized coffee, will gradually increase over the next 60 years. If the trend of the uncontrolled climate change is preserved, then areas that are suitable for high-quality varieties of coffee, valued for fruit, floral and spicy notes, will begin to shrink.
In total, experts considered the impact of 19 climatic factors (including the average temperature, annual levels of precipitation and seasons) for five different types of Coffee Category Specialty Coffee. When it becomes warmer, the outer fruit flesh of coffee berries matures faster grain, which leads to low quality coffee. A large amount of precipitation contributes to the production of coffee, in general, however, it can be harmful to individual varieties.
Scientists predict that the famous variety Yirgacheffe (Jirgacheff), one of the oldest and most popular coffee varieties grown in the south-west of Ethiopia, with the worst scenario, may lose more than 40 percent suitable for growing area by the end of the XXI century. This means that small farming, moving to traditional varieties, will be forced to compete with more efficient industrial production in other countries, which depreciates the country’s economy.