Full Transcript

Aaron Davis:
We can have a really climate resilient coffee, if it tastes awful, it’s an absolute non-starter. The reason why we are looking at alternative species or reinvigorating some of those so-called lost species, is the fact that we will need to broaden the number of crops that are available to farmers, so they’re able to continue to grow coffee in the places that they’ve always grown coffee.

Jay Famiglietti:
The average American coffee drinker will have just over three cups of coffee each day. That’s a lot of Java, but that morning cup of Joe is being hard pressed. Water scarcity is putting coffee growers at risk and could spell trouble for anyone who needs their caffeine fix. 

I’m Jay Famiglietti. Today on “What About Water?” we look at coffee. One of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and one of the most traded commodities globally. But do you actually know the impact climate change has on that cup of brew? That’s something my next guest is investigating. 

Aaron Davis is a coffee scientist and senior research leader at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in the UK. His work is focused on crops and global change. He’s a leading authority on coffee species and he joins us now from his office in London. 

Aaron, welcome to “What About Water?”

Aaron Davis:
Thank you.

Jay Famiglietti:
Tell us why focus your research on, of all things, coffee.

Aaron Davis:
It started, I guess at least a decade ago when my research focus wasn’t really on climate change, it was on the distribution of wild coffee species. One of the things that became apparent quite quickly is that each of those wild species has a very restricted distribution. When we’d started projections across this century, we started to notice a really distinct signal that many of those species would be endangered or threatened with extinction under climate change. Then we started to look at individual crop species in more detail, particularly in major producing countries like Ethiopia, and the clear indication was that here was a crop that was already being impacted by climate change and that those impacts would only increase as we go through the century.

Jay Famiglietti:
What’s interesting to me, and I didn’t realize that there many species of coffee that exist in narrow sort of climatological bands, so that they are actually a sensitive indicator of climate change. Is that correct?

Aaron Davis:
That’s absolutely correct. In fact, the coffee family in general, which is mainly a tropical family, is a really good indicator of forest health and climate change. It doesn’t take much to push them out of those niches and those very narrow climate envelopes. I think the other thing to realize is that we are dealing here with a perennial crop, a crop that’s in the ground for a long time. Coffee is a tree, so it not only has to take those weather events of that year, but over many, many years. Even though it’s a short-lived tree, let’s say 25, 30 years, it still has to be in the ground and suffer all the consequences of severe weather perturbations.

Jay Famiglietti:
Not a lot of people know this, but most coffee we drink comes from only two species. Can you tell us about that?

Aaron Davis:
Yeah, so we have in the world 131 species and we drink really just two: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is a cool tropical species and is rather sensitive to increasing temperatures. Robusta on the other hand, which has wider distribution across tropical Africa in its natural state, is more heat tolerant than Arabica, but likes to have even soil moisture, so it’s more sensitive to changes in precipitation and shortages of precipitation.

Jay Famiglietti:
You’ve touched on a research area of mine, which is soil moisture, remote sensing of soil moisture, and soil variability. We can get into that a little bit later because I understand that there’s not a lot of interest in irrigation by growers. But before we go there, I want to talk about these other species, which are not… We’re not talking about GMO. Like you said, they’re natural species.

Aaron Davis:
I think the thing to really appreciate is that if we went back 100 years, the coffee crop portfolio would be broader than it is today, so many more species were in commerce towards the end of the 1800s. Once Robusta came into ascendancy at the end of the 1800s, early 1900s, the other species she’s got left behind. What we have to remember is that the coffee landscape of the world pre-Robusta was pretty much a 100% percent of Arabica, and it was only because Arabica failed in the face of a really serious disease called coffee leaf rust, then Robusta came into play. It came into play, to replace Arabica in those areas where it had failed because of the disease and because Robusta was so productive and so hardy, those other species really faded into obscurity and we’re left now with two species.

Jay Famiglietti:
Does the name Robusta have anything to do with its robustness, with respect to climate?

Aaron Davis:
Yes, in respect to climate. There are some people that believe that it’s also due to it’s robust flavor. I haven’t quite nailed the exact reason why it’s called Robusta, but it certainly is robust in a number of ways.

Jay Famiglietti:
I like the two part explanation, that it’s the flavor and it’s hardiness with respect to climate, so I’m going to go with that. But tell us, why do we need to start now since we’ve been doing fine with Arabica and Robusta? Why do we need to start thinking about growing these different species and bringing them back?

Aaron Davis:
Look, we have been doing fine with just two species, they’ve fulfilled our requirements. Arabica is our supreme quality coffee, the one that we really like to drink. Robusta on the other hand is used in espresso blends and in instants and together they fulfill the requirements of the global coffee sector. I think we wouldn’t be having this discussion if it were not for climate change, and I think that that, well, that is the game-changer. The reason why we are looking at alternative species or reinvigorating some of those so-called lost species is the fact that we will need to broaden the number of crops that are available to farmers, so they’re able to continue to grow coffee in the places that they’ve always grown coffee.

Jay Famiglietti:
I’m curious about the taste and, you know, taste comes first. Is there a compromise in taste when we’re talking about the different species?

Aaron Davis:
Yeah. I mean that’s really the a key issue because coffee is all about the taste and what we’ve seen from historical ventures including those I must say led by Kew in the past is that, we’ve found species that certainly have all the agronomic traits that are required for a successful crop, but that’s all very well, you also need the buyers to be engaged with that coffee. If the taste or the flavor is not there, then it’s not going to work. And that’s what happened with Liberica we think, in the late 1800s where it was a major commodity, but really fell out of favor and didn’t compete with even Robusta because of its poor flavor quality. So yeah, there are extremely heat and drought-tolerant coffees, but the taste is so challenging, they just wouldn’t be acceptable to the average coffee drinker.

Jay Famiglietti:
Now I’m curious. If we did a blindfolded taste test, how I might do. Is the coffee flavor… Are the profiles that different or do you have to have a really sensitive palette?

Aaron Davis:
Let’s not underestimate the expertise and training that goes into being a coffee taster. It is a highly qualified profession, in fact there’s only a certain number of people that can really become coffee tasters for physiological reasons. But I think that most of us can tell bad coffee or coffee that we prefer over another one, and one of the things that we are really focused on is not only the climate resiliency attributes, but also the flavor. We are working across what we call the value chain from farm to consumer to understand how that all works together, because as I say, we can have a really climate-resilient coffee, if it tastes awful, it’s an absolute non-starter.

Aaron Davis:
I think that’s for me, one of the most exciting aspects of our research over the last few years. Is that we have found coffees that have a good taste, and in some cases a superior taste and have really good attributes that can be used for coffee crop breeding, et cetera. I think it’s really clear that different people like different things in their coffee and we do believe we have coffees that will satisfy a broad range of drinkers. But also, I would say that there’s scope here for extending the coffee drinking experience, bringing in new experiences for coffee lovers and that’s also really exciting.

Jay Famiglietti:
Speaking of experiences, I’m curious about if I were to visit your lab, what I would see. I just want to tell you what I’m envisioning. I’m envisioning a bunch of hipsters doing pour overs and they’ve got their laptops out or they’re reading the paper. Am I on track or is it more scientific than that?

Aaron Davis:
If only it was that cool and hip. I mean my office, I think it looks part library, part coffee shop. I engage a lot with baristas and roasters and cuppers, but I also like to do my own tasting and roasting. So in the office, I have a roasting machine, a coffee grinder, a coffee maker, everything I need to evaluate coffee. But if I really want to do it as best as possible, then I’ll go to the professionals.

Jay Famiglietti:
It sounds to me like Aaron, if you had a restroom in your office, you would have everything that you need and you would never have to leave.

Aaron Davis:
Well, when I was asked to choose my office, I chose the one that was directly opposite the tea room, where there’s a coffee boiler, so I’ve got a very short commute to get hot water to brew coffee.

Jay Famiglietti:
But having you as an office mate, that must be very interesting because the smells must be pretty strong when you’re actually roasting.

Aaron Davis:
Yeah, let’s not  imagine that I’ve got a great coffee roaster in my room. What I have is a very nice, neat piece of equipment called IKAWA Pro 50, and that will roast 25 to 50 grams of coffee in a very expert way according to a very specific roasting profile. But the really important thing is that, I can vent the fumes out of the window and all the… There’s no mess involved, so it’s absolutely perfect. Yeah, I do have some raised eyebrows with colleagues walking past also when the grind is going and the roast is going, there are some raised eyebrows. But it’s all in the quest of scientific excellence.

Jay Famiglietti:
That’s right, you know, it goes with the territory and if I were in your office complex, I would probably be knocking on your door all of the time. And when we come back, we’re going to talk about water and its role in growing coffee.

Jen Quesnel:
Hey, there I’m Jen Quesnel, one of the people behind “What About Water?” We are all about the quest for scientific excellence when it comes to water and coffee. The next time you’re waiting for yours to brew, why not leave us a review. That way more people hear about “What About Water?” and we’ll let your suggestions percolate. Okay, Now back to Aaron and Jay.

Jay Famiglietti:
Okay, welcome back. Today our guest is Aaron Davis of Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, and we’re talking about coffee. I need to take a sip right now. That’s good stuff, but now I’m curious. Aaron, this is a water podcast so I have to ask, how much water does it actually take to grow a coffee plant?

Aaron Davis:
Yeah, I mean water is all important and unlike you I’m not a hydrologist. It’s not my area of expertise, but we have a big focus on understanding the water requirements of coffee, particularly as we are seeing shifts in precipitation patterns, shifts in seasonality, reduction in the amount of precipitation, so it’s absolutely key. Now at your question, how much water does a coffee plant require? I mean, I don’t think we have the exact answer on that, but some years ago I remember a study saying that irrigated Robusta plants in Vietnam were receiving a thousand liters per year. If you imagine let’s say that produces a couple of jars of instant coffee, that’s a really heavy water burden, I think that’s unacceptable. That has implications. You’re taking the water from a ground source in some cases and that has all sorts of implications for agriculture and natural vegetation in that area. It’s something that’s not sustainable and in many areas is a serious issue.

Jay Famiglietti:
Yeah, it’s a challenge that we face all over the world because in these places that have limited water supplies, that region may decide that using the water to grow coffee is maybe not the best use. Maybe there’s other crops that need to be grown to help provide calories and nutrition for that region. I’m curious about the farms you visited and the growers that have spoken to, are they in tune with climate change? Are they afraid? Do they have fears about climate change?

Aaron Davis:
Yes, they do. We work mainly in East Africa, but also in West Africa. I think when we started, there was this perception put upon us that actually farmers really don’t understand what’s going on. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In place like Ethiopia and Uganda, you have people that have been farming coffee for several generations in the same location. They not only know the yearly weather cycle, very, very well, the seasonality. But they’re able to go back three or four generations to tell you the changes that their family has perceived over those generations, and that corresponds incredibly well with recorded climate change. They live in it, their farms are in the coffee fields, in those environments. I think the focus has been on temperature, and temperature of course is very important. But if you have water, you can grow coffee in California, Queensland, even now in the Mediterranean they’re starting to grow Arabica in Sicily. But that’s only possible with irrigation and you can achieve marvelous things with irrigation. As I’ve said, that comes at a cost. But if you speak to farmers, if they had water, they would be drinking it, using it for sanitation or growing higher-value crops, and I think the really important point here is coffee for many farmers is not a high-value crop. It may be the crop that they depend on, but other crops have a higher value.

Jay Famiglietti:
That is extremely interesting, tremendous parallels of course to all the growing regions around the world. I spent a lot of time in California and certainly that’s the discussion. If you’re going to irrigate and spend more money, as the price of water goes up, as it becomes more scarce, what are the high-value crops? I love coffee, but maybe the solution is not irrigation and just to shift to some of these other… the work that you’re doing. If we can do these things from a rain-fed operational farming standpoint, it’s certainly much more sustainable.

Aaron Davis:
Yeah, there are options for irrigation. You can create ponds, lakes and use that as an irrigation source. That’s possible in many to developed countries and some developing countries. But most farmers will tell you that there’s simply not enough profit, there’s not enough investment potential to even do any simple interventions such as a irrigation pond. In many cases, it’s just not possible, and when I say not possible, I’m talking about some of the key coffee producing areas of the world.

Aaron Davis:
We can’t suddenly switch over to all irrigated, it’s just impossible. Yeah, very much our focus is on rain-fed agriculture. And we have some wild coffees that actually are in production in small scale that require half the amount of rainfall compared to Arabica, a third of the rainfall compared to Robusta and they have traits such as deciduousness, so in the dry season they lose their leaves. I thought, perhaps we’ll be drinking deciduous coffees rather than evergreen coffees.

Aaron Davis:
The other point about the perennial nature of coffee, the fact that it’s a tree, let’s just look at what happened in Brazil last year with drought and frost. Total production volumes for Brazil are very, very down and that’s had a massive influence in global prices. Global prices have pretty much doubled over the last year, and that is set to continue because if your trees are killed by drought, you’ve got to then wait four years before you get another crop. Unlike maize, or a cereal crop or an annual crop, you can’t plant next year and get back to where you were, there’s a long delay and that has big implications on livelihoods and on long term profits.

Jay Famiglietti:
I want to ask you about the role of the coffee giants like Starbucks in promoting a shift in raising awareness about these other species. Is there interest at that level? Because they can drive of course, right? The food and beverage industry can drive that consumer demand.

Aaron Davis:
Yeah.

Jay Famiglietti:
That was a heavy sigh, so-

Aaron Davis:
That’s a big question, I think there’s many things that can be done. One of the things that we have to tackle, of course is the root causes of climate change. We need to understand carbon requirements in the coffee value chain and do something about that. We also need to look at deforestation, which is also part of the whole carbon sequestration issue and many other things of course. I think there’s easy gains to be made on transparent labeling and making the buyer aware of what they’re purchasing choices mean. Are they buying a coffee that causes deforestation? Or are they buying a coffee that’s actually an agent of forest preservation, biodiversity, conservation, improvement or retention of carbon storage?

Aaron Davis:
I think we need to take a really long, hard look at implications of the value chain and make sure that we get the simple wins first. The other question is about the players. You’ve got your Starbucks, they’re more on the retail side. You also got the people who buy the world’s coffee, spread mainly across say 10 large companies and they’re engaged. They are interested in what we’re doing. We are working with those stakeholders in the coffee sector. We’ve gone from sort of fantasy level to reality level, and we’re starting to get traction. We’ll start importing more climate-resilient coffee this year for example.

Aaron Davis:
Personally, I wish I’d had started this 20 years ago and I think we’d be in a much better position in terms of providing a reasonable level of adaptation for coffee farmers, but you’ve got to start somewhere. So let me give you an example from two of our projects. One in Uganda, and that’s really interesting for a number of reasons. But one of the really compelling occurrences that we’ve witnessed is the fact that farmers have been using a coffee species from the wild and growing it on their farms in preference to Robusta coffee.

Aaron Davis:
This is something that’s led by farmers, not by NGOs or research scientists or governments. This has been their decision, use of their genetic material and IP to resolve the adaptation issue, which is really interesting. It’s I think pretty much unique in that sense, and they’re, they’re achieving a huge measure of success. They’re now growing this wild type of Liberica around… I think it’s about 700 farms. The reason why it’s successful is because it’s more climate tolerant, it achieves a better price or a better taste than Robusta, it’s more disease and pest resistant, and it really is gaining traction and it finds its way into the supply chain. Where we fit in with that is to understand really what it can do in times of climate adaptation.

Aaron Davis:
What are the best types to upscale, put some metrics, put some science behind making the right decisions for upscaling. In Sierra Leone on the other hand where we are working with Stenophylla coffee, and it was only because of historical references to an excellent taste and useful agronomic attributes that got us interested, and now we are starting to develop that species in that country with a view to providing a climate-appropriate crop for Sierra Leone.

Jay Famiglietti:
Is there something that consumers should be mindful of the next time they’re at a coffee shop and they are ordering a cup of coffee, or they’re in the grocery store buying a pound of coffee beans?

Aaron Davis:
Certainly if they can buy coffees that work for farmers, that improve livelihoods, particularly in the direct trade model, where there’s a direct link between the roaster and the purchaser, the farmer gets an improved livelihood in most cases. But I really think we have to wait because at the moment, I think it’s really difficult for people to make the right decisions in certification. Although it might say rainforest or fair trade on the packet, that doesn’t guarantee a good outcome and I think one thing that consumers can do, yes buy those coffees that purport to provide benefits, but they should be pushing retailers and big coffee companies to really be transparent about where their coffee comes from and what impact it has good or bad, hopefully good.

Jay Famiglietti:
Okay. Thanks very much, Aaron, it’s been great. We really appreciate your joining us today.

Aaron Davis:
You’re very welcome.

Jay Famiglietti:
Aaron Davis is the senior research leader of the crops and global change team at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in the UK. So Aaron Davis points out a number of coffee growers are trying out new species. In Sierra Leone research is looking at more climate-resilient coffee.

 

LAST WORD

Daniel Sarmu:
My name is Daniel Sarmu. I am a development worker in Kenema, Eastern Sierra Leone. I am currently in one of the nurseries where the Stenophylla coffee is being nursed for domestication. The seedlings are from the wild. At the end of the day, after obtaining proper research results, we’ll be able to distribute this to smallholder farmers who will cultivate it so that they will be able to make money for themselves and for the country as a whole. The Stenophylla coffee was cultivated and traded in Sierra Leone in the 1800s, but the coffee disappeared from the world nearly a hundred years ago.

Daniel Sarmu:
It was rediscovered in 2018 by professor Jeremy Hagar, Dr. Aaron Davis and my very self. This coffee has proven to have excellent taste and excellent aroma. The roasters and cuppers have said that it is the best they have ever tasted. One good quality of the Stenophylla coffee is that it is resistant to climate change. The reason why I want farmers to start growing Stenophylla coffee, is that it will really provide them a niche market, and will give them comparative advantage in terms of rights over all the other crops that they are growing in this region.

Currently farmers in Sierra Leone are engaged in the cultivation of Robusta coffee, which has a poor market price and as such, the farmers have abandoned their Robusta coffee fields, quickly transforming them into Cocoa fields, oil palm fields and rice fields, which is not paying them the dividend that they are really expecting.

I’m currently trying to help farmers in the forest-edge communities to search for the Stenophylla coffee in the wild and try to actually domesticate them. My hope and dream for the coffee farmers in Sierra Leone is that international research institutes or institutions, will be able to work on the Stenophylla coffee to make it a high yielding and early maturation crop, so that smallholder farmers will plant the Stenophylla coffee and will be able to have a niche market in the world, and they’ll also be proud to provide the world with good testing and good aroma coffee, very unique.

Jay Famiglietti:
That was Daniel Sarmu, who works closely with Aaron Davis and is drafting the Sierra Leone National Coffee Policy.

Jay Famiglietti:
That’s it for this episode of “What About Water?” We record and produce this podcast on treaty Six territory, the Homeland of First Nations and Métis people. It’s produced by The Walrus Lab and the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan. For more resources, check out. Whataboutwater.org. Our crew here at “What About Water?” Is Mark Ferguson, Erin Stephens, or Laura McFarlan, Fred Reibin, Jesse Witow, Shawn Ahmed and Andrea Rowe. Our audio engineer is Wayne Giesbrecht, and our producers are Farha Akhtar and Jen Quesnel. “What About Water?” Is available on Spotify, Apple and wherever you download your favorite podcasts. I’m Jay Famiglietti, thanks for listening.