Coffee under threat

COFFEE lovers usually know exactly how they want their caffeine delivered, whether as a black kopi-O from the neighbourhood coffee shop, a sweet iced latte from Starbucks, or a hand-crafted speciality coffee from their favourite cafe. However, what they may not know is that their daily cuppas are under ever-increasing threat from climate change.

The money they hand over at the counter also hardly translates into actual earnings for the farmers battling the effects of global warming to bring them their caffeine fix.

Dave D'haeze, regional manager for Asia-Pacific for non-profit foundation Hanns R Neumann Stiftung, has been participating in studies about the effects of climate change on the coffee industry in Vietnam, the largest exporter of robusta coffee worldwide.