As climate change increasingly impacts coffee production, it is tiny farmers who will feel the effects most dramatically. Without available resources, smallholder farmers will be unable to adapt to rising temperatures and erratic and more extreme weather conditions. This is why Cornell University joined forces with World coffee research for a completely up-to-date one Coffee improvement program. Through this initiative, Cornell and WCR seek to “improve the resilience and productivity of smallholder coffee farmers around the world.”
With over $5 million from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program aims to aid more than 12 million coffee farmers around the world who own less than five hectares of land, which together account for 60% of all coffee produced. As part of Cornell’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement (ILCI) and WCR, the Coffee Improvement Program aims to develop up-to-date, more resilient and productive coffee varieties that are better equipped to survive in the ever-changing landscape of climate change.
The five-year program is a three-step plan to secure the future of coffee for tiny farmers. The project will aim to develop up-to-date breeding tools that will “enhance the precision and speed of coffee breeding, with particular emphasis on identifying genetic markers for coffee berry diseases and coffee leaf rust,” as well as up-to-date assessment tools for both Arabica and Robusta. It will also strengthen breeding capacity and efficiency in nine different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Finally, it will provide wider access to “high-quality seeds and plants” and “create a tool to assess the supply and demand dynamics of seeds.”
“At the Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement, we are committed to developing cutting-edge tools, technologies and methods that can be applied to a variety of crops, from fast-growing annuals to long-lived perennials such as coffee,” said Stephen Kresovich, ILCI director and professor of plant breeding and genetics at SIPS and the Robert and Lois Coker Chair in Genetics at Clemson University. “This partnership exemplifies our mission to equip breeders with the innovation they need to provide farmers with resilient, high-yielding varieties, ensuring their sustainability in the face of a changing climate.”
The future of coffee is uncertain. The threat of climate change is multifaceted and shows no signs of slowing down. Solutions can’t come soon enough, but initiatives like the Coffee Improvement Program offer hope that they will be introduced before it’s too tardy.
