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Kenyan coffee is under threat as farmers are hit by climate change

In the fertile, volcanic regions of Komothai in central Kenya, farmers like Simon Macharia produce coffee in small fields spread across the hills.

Along with other farmers, Mr. Macharia brings sacks of his bright red coffee cherries to the mill where they are weighed and treated.

A machine removes the red husks, and the pale beans inside are washed and passed through concrete channels, ending up on rows of drying platforms that sweep the valley.

Here, the workers separate the beans into grades, which are the highest set for European coffee houses.

“We call coffee black gold here,” Mr Macharia, whose farm is 2.5 hectares (six acres), told the BBC.

He grows Kenyan AA coffee beans, which are appreciated worldwide for their high quality, full body, aroma and flavor.

Once harvested the beans need to be picked from the berries and dried [Kate Stanworth]

This plant has been part of these green highlands since the late 1890s, when British colonial settlers introduced it.

Now, the area is famous for its unique, high-quality coffee.

Growing berries is a lot of work – picking, pruning, weeding, spraying, fertilizing and transporting produce.

“Coffee requires full concentration, especially when it starts to bloom,” said Mr Macharia.

“From then until the day you harvest — those six months, your full-time job is on the farm.”

A coffee tree is a great investment for cash-strapped farmers, as it can take up to four years for the fruit to ripen.

The price of a single cup of coffee in a chic European restaurant, usually $4 (£3.20), highlights the stark contrast to the wages of most Kenyan coffee workers, who make around $2.30 a day.

Edita Mwangi, who harvests coffee cherries on the red hill overlooking the milling plant, confirms this.

“They don’t know the suffering we face, you have to fight day and night to survive,” she said.

With four dependent children, Ms. Mwangi works six days a week earning $1.40 a day.

He has to walk five kilometers (three miles) to reach the farm where he works.

A woman picks coffee berries at a small farm in Komotai, Kenya.

The daily wage of many Kenyan coffee workers is less than the price of a cup of coffee in Europe [Kate Stanworth]

Farmers feel that the trade system between Kenya and Europe – the world’s largest coffee market – has been imposed on them for years.

But now, a new threat threatens farmers’ ability to make a living – climate change.

Coffee trees are very sensitive to small differences in temperature and weather conditions.

They also require specific climatic conditions such as humid temperatures and adequate rainfall to grow.

“Climate change is a big challenge for our coffee farmers,” said John Murigi, chairman of the Komothai Coffee Society, which represents eight thousand coffee farmers like Mr Macharia.

Cold temperatures and erratic rainfall are having a negative impact on fragile coffee plants, Mr Murigi said.

As a result, “coffee production has declined over the past few years”.

He went on to say that climate change is intensifying the spread of diseases in coffee plants.

Mr Murigi said there has been a huge increase in coffee leaf miners, bugs that feed on coffee leaves, and coffee berry disease, a devastating fungal disease that can wipe out more than 80% of crops.

To deal with the growing outbreaks, farmers are turning to using herbicides and pesticides that can damage soil quality over time and pose health risks.

Farmers use dangerous herbicides such as Roundup, which contains glyphosate known to cause cancer – banned in some European countries – to ensure they get a good harvest.

Kenya’s Pest Control Products Board (PCPB), which regulates the use of these products, did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Coffee processors stand next to a water station when they wash and dry coffee beans.

The harvested beans are washed and dried near the farm [Kate Stanworth]

Producing one cup of coffee can require 140 liters of water – including water to grow the plants.

But higher temperatures and changing rainfall patterns mean less water for coffee farmers in Kiambu County.

Farmer Joseph Kimani told the BBC that “river levels have dropped significantly” due to changing weather conditions, such as periods of drought and heavy rains.

He said that due to the lack of rain, farmers are forced to use more water from the rivers.

But this increased reliance on river water, driven by a lack of rainfall, could further strain the already limited supply of water.

Although Mr. Murigi acknowledges the increase in water use by coffee farmers, he denies that the river is burning.

However, with 23 coffee communities in the county, a significant amount of water is clearly used for growing coffee in Kiambu County.

Komothia’s story is no different. As global temperatures and droughts increase, good coffee will be harder to grow in all parts of the world.

Workers prepare coffee beans at a coffee processing plant in Komotai, Kenya

Once the beans are dried they are usually exported for further processing [Kate Stanworth]

Coffee can only be grown in the “coffee belt” – tropical regions around the world in places usually located at an altitude between 1,000m and 2,000m.

In recent years, climate change has caused shortages of coffee supplies worldwide and increased coffee prices due to droughts and crop failures in several major coffee-producing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam.

A survey by Fairtrade International, the organization behind Fairtrade labels, found that 93% of Kenyan coffee farmers are already facing the effects of climate change.

The coffee industry in Kenya is an important source of employment, providing employment to an estimated 150,000 people.

To protect the industry, coffee farmers in areas like Komotai are experimenting with climate adaptation methods, such as planting trees to provide more shade for the coffee plants.

Mr Murigi said it is only through addressing the climate and economic challenges Kenyan coffee farmers face that they can have a sustainable future.

However, coffee farmers like Mr Macharia are not optimistic about the future of the industry.

“Right now, as things are, I don’t think any parent wants their child to grow coffee here,” he said.

A man in a blue blazer is standing in front of a green wall

John Murigi is concerned about the ripple effect it has on the farmers he represents [Kate Stanworth]

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