:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bloomberglinea/7GDFHMGA75F3NAQ5AJRJQNXCQM.jpg "Coffee beans being toasted in the Roastery Lab research and development facility.")
Bogotá — The weather continues to wreak havoc on Colombian coffee production, which declined 16% in February compared with the same month of 2021, while exports fell 23% year-on-year, according to the country’s National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC).
February’s coffee production in Colombia, the world’s largest producer of washed mild arabica, was 928,000 60 kg bags, 16% less compared to the 1.1 million bags produced in the same month of 2021.
This drop was “the result of persistent unfavorable weather conditions”, the FNC said.
Production so far this year is close to 1.8 million bags, 18% less than the almost 2.2 million bags produced in the same period a year ago.
Read More: Food Imports, Costs Skyrocket As Colombia Struggles to Feed ‘Too Many Hungry People’
During the most recent coffee-growing season, from October to February, production exceeded 5.3 million bags, which is 19% fewer than the more than 6.5 million bags produced in the same period of 2021, while exports during that period totaled 5.3 million 60 kg bags, down 11% from nearly 6 million bags exported a year earlier
In February alone, exports totaled 980,000 60 kg bags, a reduction of 23% from the almost 1.3 million bags exported in the same month of 2021.
Year-to-date exports fell by 14% to just over 2 million bags from over 2.3 million bags exported a year earlier.
Over the last 12 months (March 2021-February 2022), exports fell 5%, to 12.1 million 60 kg bags.
Coffee is highly sensitive to climate change and it is expected that in the coming years the major coffee-producing countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia will experience “substantial reductions in the areas suitable for cultivation”, according to a report published by scientific journal PLOS One.
Read More: Global Warming Is Outrunning Efforts to Protect Human Life, Scientists Warn
The report analyzes the risk factors associated with climate change for coffee, especially the arabica variety, as well as for the cultivation of cashew nuts and avocados to 2050.
The risk is latent if it is taken into account that there is a 40% probability that the average annual temperature of the Earth will warm by 1.5°C in the next five years, above pre-industrial levels, as warned by the UN.
According to FNC figures, Colombian coffee production closed 2021 at 12,577,000 bags of 60 kilos, 9% less than in 2020, while exports totaled 12,452,000 bags.
The FNC blamed the decline on “the negative impact of the blockades in the second quarter of the year” and “the effect of the weather in some coffee regions that could have reduced production”.
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