Building a Climate Resilient Future for Costa Rica’s Coffee Farming Communities

Based on a literature review, interviews, a workshop and field visits with coffee farmers, government ministries, funders, and other stakeholders, this case study identified six key recommendations to increase the short-, medium-, and long-term climate resilience of the coffee sector. These are: promote promising adaptation options identified by stakeholders such as diversifying incomes of farmers and replanting farms with climate-resilient coffee varieties, with regular technical follow-up; establish baselines and monitor the impacts of adaptation measures; map out when and where coffee may no longer be viable in the coming decades, and how to support those farmers who may need to shift away from coffee; develop farmer-tailored business education; and expand peer-to-peer learning between farmers.

Despite the case study’s local focus, the lessons and experiences shared in this paper are relevant for other coffee-growing regions and countries ̶ Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Uganda, and others ̶ where coffee producers are facing the effects of climate change, and hope that it will serve as a tool and inspiration for accelerating adaptation action.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Research In Focus: How Coffee Farming Communities Can Adapt to Climate Change: Experiences and Lessons from Costa Rica