Our industry often forgets how important small farmers are to the work we all do every day. We can verify this every time we meet at events like the last World of Coffee in Milan, where the focus is mostly on competitions, machinery, influencers, but apparently no one realizes that without small coffee growers none of this would be possible, and they keep being ignored as they have been for 400 years.
The current times are stormy, for no one in the world it should be a mystery that climate change is affecting our lives in a radical way. To no one either, it should be a mystery that inflation is hitting the pockets of the world's poorest people, and this particularly impacts coffee farmers who, despite record coffee prices, have not seen their income levels improve. Finally, due to the war in Ukraine, the shortage of fertilizers could cause a deficit of almost 20% in coffee production in 2022, in addition to the food crisis that it is already affecting various parts of Africa.
Rain patterns and temperature ranges in growing areas have changed dramatically in recent years and are more unstable today than ever. This has affected flowering, harvest and yield. Last year we had a particularly difficult harvest in Rwanda and Burundi, in addition to being a very small harvest (as we mentioned in previous articles, coffee is a biennial crop) added to this was the lack of fertilizers and high prices.
Although the information we receive is correct, it does not reflect the true impact of the events that affect the industry. Today in Rwanda and Burundi many farmers are changing coffee for other more profitable and reliable crops, and it is our responsibility to acknowledge, encourage and protect the work of these small farmers, through our purchasing decisions. Therefore, we should always choose importers and roasters that promote traceability (at least up to the washing station) and price transparency.
Enjoy your coffee and keep in mind that without small farmers there would be no specialty coffee! This is an undeniable fact.
Although the information we receive is correct, it does not reflect the true impact of the events that affect the industry. Today in Rwanda and Burundi many farmers are changing coffee for other more profitable and reliable crops, and it is our responsibility to acknowledge, encourage and protect the work of these small farmers, through our purchasing decisions. Therefore, we should always choose importers and roasters that promote traceability (at least up to the washing station) and price transparency.
Enjoy your coffee and keep in mind that without small farmers there would be no specialty coffee! This is an undeniable fact.
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