Colombia is the second biggest producer of Arabica coffee and the biggest producer of washed arabica. Global warming poses problems as farmers have to combat many changing environmental patterns which “are already altering the harvest volume, production techniques, and even the taste of coffee.”
Climate change causes an imbalance in the seasons, prolonging both droughts and rainfalls. However, whereas Brazil has been struggling with prolonged droughts, the main adversary of Colombian coffee production proved to be excessive rain, which can “ lead to erosion, leaching of valuable nutrients, or waterlogged roots which are prone to disease and rot.”
In March 2022, Colombia produced “914,000 60-kg bags of green coffee, down 13% from almost 1.1 million bags produced in the same month of 2021.” In general, March is considered to be a month of not very large harvests, but the fact that February also showed lower numbers might be potentially problematic.
According to Colombian Federacion de Cafeteros, Colombia registered in February 2022 928,000 60-kg bags of green coffee were produced, down 16% from 1.1 million bags produced in February 2021. This is a result of “persistent unfavourable weather conditions.”
The federation also reported lower figures for the whole year of 2022 thus far. Between March and January, the total production of 60-kg coffee bags was 16% lower than the number of bags produced in the same time period last year, dropping from 3.2 million bags to 2.7. Additionally, Colombian coffee production for the coffee year October 2021 – March 2022 was 18% lower than the same previous period.
Colombia has also reported lower figures in the export of its coffee. Whereas March showed 1% decline in export compared to March 2021, the period January-March showed that Colombia exported 10% less coffee than in the same period last year, which translates to a drop of around 400,000 60-kg bags. Additionally, “sales of Colombian coffee abroad fell by 1%, going from 1,128,000 bags in the same month of 2021 to 1,121,000 in the third month of this year.”
Many farmers are turning to other, more lucrative crops such as coca. At the same time, the country is still working hard to promote its coffee. Recently, it opened two Juan Valdez coffee shops, respectively, in Qatar and Turkey.
