Climate vulnerability and adaptation of the smallholder cocoa and coffee value chains in Liberia

Liberia is one of the world’s poorest countries. Efforts to rebuild its economy after several years of internal conflict were partially set back by the 2014–5 Ebola crisis. The country’s lowland humid climate and land-use history suggest a potential to increase the production of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and coffee (Coffea spp.) to generate income and employment for smallholder farmers, and these value chains are, therefore, the focus of projects funded by donors including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Bank. This study analyzes the present and projected future climatic conditions of the country and compares them with conditions in other cocoa- and coffee-producing parts of Africa. Soil conditions, farming systems and supply chain characteristics are also briefly reviewed. On the basis of this information, a comprehensive strategy to reduce the vulnerability of the cocoa and coffee supply chains to climate change and ensure their future viability is proposed

Climate-smart coffee in Uganda

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. It aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (GHGs). While the concept is new, and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are used by farmers to cope with various production risks. Mainstreaming Climate Smart Coffee (CSC) requires critical stocktaking of the sector fundamentals, already evident and projected climatic developments relevant to coffee production and promising practices for the future, and of institutional and financial enablers for CSC adoption. This CSC profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSC at scale

Cambio climático y cacao en Ecuador

Prever qué va a pasar a futuro con el cacao desde la perspectiva climática es muy importante para la economía del país y miles de familias que subsisten del cacao, por esto, el objetivo principal del presente documento es mostrar la magnitud del impacto del cambio climático sobre el cultivo de cacao identificado en Ecuador. Es decir, se busca identificar dónde el cacao va a ser más resiliente al cambio climático, y conocer si los municipios en donde actualmente se cultiva cacao, a futuro tendrían las condiciones óptimas para el desarrollo del cultivo, esto a partir de la identificación de Zonas Agroclimáticas (ZAC) para el cacao. Este informe hace parte del proyecto Clima – LoCa que tiene como propósito fomentar innovaciones relevantes para el clima y bajas en cadmio para mejorar la resiliencia y la inclusividad de la cadena de cacao en Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. https://climaloca.org

The impact of climate change on coffee production in Central America

Climate change has become a reality that affects coffee producers across the world. The prioritization of adaptation tools for coffee is not a trivial task: available means are limited, climate change is not uniform and each coffee stakeholder group has a different decision environment Therefore, climate change adaptation is crop-/site- and actor-specific. To support climate change adaptation strategies we developed a gradient of climate change impacts for coffee production in Central America. First, we differentiated different types of climates suitable for coffee production by clustering occurrence locations on 20 bioclimatic variables. The climate zones were described and ranked using their dry season characteristics, including its length, mean temperature and precipitation. The spatial distribution of these climate types was modeled using the machine learning algorithm Random Forest for current conditions and future projections from 19 global climate models. The difference between current and the most likely future distribution resulted in the gradient of impacts We found that about a third of currently potentially suitable area will become unsuitable for coffee production without adaptation. Another third will require substantial adaptation efforts to production systems. The remainder will be less affected and will only require incremental adaptation to improve the resilience of the system. We found a clear relationship of these impacts with altitude. The lowest regions were found 200m higher in altitude than under current conditions. We could not find a clear relationship between impacts and dry season characteristics,probably caused by the high modeling uncertainty of global climate model projections

The impact of climate change on coffee production in Central America

Climate change has become a reality that affects coffee producers across the world. The prioritization of adaptation tools for coffee is not a trivial task: available means are limited, climate change is not uniform and each coffee stakeholder group has a different decision environment Therefore, climate change adaptation is crop-/site- and actor-specific. To support climate change adaptation strategies we developed a gradient of climate change impacts for coffee production in Central America. First, we differentiated different types of climates suitable for coffee production by clustering occurrence locations on 20 bioclimatic variables. The climate zones were described and ranked using their dry season characteristics, including its length, mean temperature and precipitation. The spatial distribution of these climate types was modeled using the machine learning algorithm Random Forest for current conditions and future projections from 19 global climate models. The difference between current and the most likely future distribution resulted in the gradient of impacts We found that about a third of currently potentially suitable area will become unsuitable for coffee production without adaptation. Another third will require substantial adaptation efforts to production systems. The remainder will be less affected and will only require incremental adaptation to improve the resilience of the system. We found a clear relationship of these impacts with altitude. The lowest regions were found 200m higher in altitude than under current conditions. We could not find a clear relationship between impacts and dry season characteristics,probably caused by the high modeling uncertainty of global climate model projections

Climate Smart Cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire Towards climate resilient production at scale

Climate Smart Cocoa (CSC) furthers the objectives of Climate Smart Agriculture in cocoa production. These objectives are: increasing productivity and improving farmers livelihoods, adaptation to climate change, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Current cocoa production practices in Côte d’Ivoire still have a long way to improve toward greater resilience and achieving CSA goals. Cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire are vulnerable to an array of climate-related risks: the Harmattan wind, droughts, storms, flooding. Climate change is projected to increase the occurrence of such extreme events, as well as induce more gradual changes to cocoa farming suitability via higher average temperatures and more erratic rainfall. Whether sudden or gradual, production needs to be resilient to these changes

Impacto del cambio climático en la producción de café en México y Centroamérica

El presente documento es un atlas de Centro América y El Caribe que proporciona información general sobre los diferentes grados de esfuerzo de adaptación necesarios para mitigar los impactos del cambio climático en la producción de café. Así mismo, contiene mapas de la región, y por país, de las zonas agroclimáticas (ZAC) y del gradiente de impacto. Información que permite entender mejor el panorama de la región con respecto a los efectos del cambio climático en el café de la región y abrir el debate sobre prácticas sostenibles e inversiones necesarias para hacerle frente a los riesgos a futuro. El mapa de las presencias del café permite identificar las zonas de producción del cultivo; los mapas de las zonas agroclimáticas muestran los cambios a futuro de las zonas climáticas idóneas para el café; los mapas del gradiente de impacto le permiten identificar el nivel de impacto de su zona, primero en la región y luego por país