For millions of people around the world, a cup of coffee is necessary to start the day. Though it might seem like the supply of this popular commodity is endless, climate change and a growing demand is likely to bring about dramatic changes to global coffee production in coming decades. Vietnam will be among the most affected coffee-growing countries if predictions of a 2-degree Celsius temperature rise by 2050 hold true, as huge areas that currently support coffee farms will no longer be able to do so.
Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of Coffea canephora, or Robusta coffee, which is mainly used to make instant coffee and other lower-quality products. According to Conservation International, the Southeast Asian nation accounts for more than 17 percent of global coffee production, up from just 3 percent in 1990.
This has been an economic boon for a huge number of people: 550,000 smallholder farmers supply over 95 percent of Vietnam’s coffee, and another 500,000 people are engaged in seasonal work in the industry, according to the Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) office in Hanoi.
However, Robusta coffee production in Vietnam is at a turning point, according to Peter Laderach, Senior Climate Change Specialist at CIAT. A devastating drought in the Central Highlands – the country’s primary coffee growing area – earlier this year will likely hurt annual harvest figures.
