Top Five Coffee-Growing Countries Experienced An Average Of 57 Days Of Crop-Damaging Heat/Year From 2021 Through 2025 [View all]

In Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, more than 4m households rely on coffee as their primary source of income. It contributes almost a third of the country’s export earnings, but for how much longer is uncertain. “Coffee farmers in Ethiopia are already seeing the impact of extreme heat,” said Dejene Dadi, the general manager of Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (OCFCU), a smallholder cooperative.

An analysis has suggested the countries where coffee beans are grown are becoming too hot to cultivate them because of climate breakdown. The top five coffee-growing countries, responsible for 75% of the world’s supply, experienced on average 57 additional days of coffee-harming heat annually because of the climate crisis, according to the findings of Climate Central, which researches and reports on the crisis.

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“Ethiopian arabica is particularly sensitive to direct sunlight,” Dadi said. “Without sufficient shade, coffee trees produce fewer beans and become more vulnerable to disease.” The Oromia co-op has distributed energy-efficient cookstoves to its members to discourage deforestation in the wooded areas that serve as natural shelters for coffee cultivation.

The climate finance needed for meaningful adaptation is lacking, campaigners say. Smallholder farmers produce 60% to 80% of coffee, but received just 0.36% of the funds needed to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis in 2021, according to a study last year. Without help, there is only so much they can do, Dadi said. “To safeguard coffee supplies, governments need to act on climate change.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/18/coffee-growing-countries-too-hot-to-cultivate-beans-analysis