The effects of climate change include unpredictable and erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures that result in changes in pest and disease patterns. These negatively affect productivity and quality.
Unfortunately, the people least prepared to cope with climate change are affected the most. These smallholders who produce the bulk of the world's coffee, often lack the necessary resources and/or knowledge to meet the challenges of a changing global climate.
The 4C Association, in partnership with development agencies and other organizations, is exploring how coffee farmers can become more resilient to climate change and mitigate its effects. Below we describe some of the actions that the 4C Association has taken on the issue of climate change and coffee:
The Climate Module for green coffee production adds a climate dimension to the 4C Code of Conduct. The 4C Climate Module helps guide coffee producers as they adapt to climate change and provides guidance for greenhouse gas sequestration and mitigation. As coffee producers adapt production to the changing climate they create and find synergies linking adaptation and mitigation.
The Climate Module includes:
The Climate Code defines principles for climate change adaptation and mitigation and provides indicators for objective measurement.
The Climate Module was developed in Kenya through a development partnership (PPP) between Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Sangana Commodities (Ecom Group) and ran from 2008 until September 2011. The 4C Association and the World Bank initially began the project and were joined by Tchibo GmbH in May 2010.
The final results of the Sangana PPP project were presented at a conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, in September 2011. The minutes and presentations of the Lausanne conference are available to download from the 4C Resource Center.
In the long run, the 4C Association aims to integrate the Climate Code into the 4C Verification system as a voluntary add-on module. Options for a follow-up project and potential funding are currently being investigated.
The 4C Resource Center contains all of the training and information materials on climate change that were developed through the Sangana Project.
The 4C working group, made up of stakeholder representatives from all members, first met in December 2010 to guide the 4C Association's approach to climate change and provide input on projects, such as the Sangana PPP.
The working group will help develop a sector wide methodology for calculating greenhouse gas emissions for green coffee. It will also guide possible plans for benchmarking the SAN climate module with the 4C climate module.
Identifying realistic solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change on coffee production requires of the dialogue and collaboration of all the coffee actors.
In order to enhance such a dialogue, the 4C Association organizes conferences and meetings bringing together stakeholders in different coffee producing regions.The first of such conferences was organized in El Salvador in August 2011 in collaboration with FUNDE and the initiative RUTA. To find out more about the Regional Climate Change Forum in Central America, read our press release.
The second Eastern African Coffee Sustainability Forum which will be organized by the 4C Association in Ethiopia in April 2012 will also address the issue of climate change and coffee production.
