The sector directly or indirectly employs up to 20% of the country's 100 million population

Ethiopia is a country that prides itself on growing coffee because it is a source of valuable grains of the Arabian variety. However, production is affected by rising temperatures and increasingly severe droughts associated with climate change. Solving this problem may require many Ethiopian coffee plantations to be moved to a higher altitude, experts say.

Along with its cultural value, coffee is the only source of Ethiopian export revenue, bringing it over $ 860 million in the production year 2016-2017.

In the coffee-growing regions of eastern Ethiopia, average temperatures have risen by 1.3 degrees Celsius in the past three decades, according to the Ethiopian NGO Forum on Coffee, Plant and Coffee and Forest Environment Forum - ECCCFF) Ethiopia therefore carries coffee growing in higher areas because of the climate

This may help mitigate some of the pressure caused by climate change on Ethiopia, said Birhanu Cegae, head of the Coffe and Tea Development Marketing Authority (ECTDMA), a state agency, tasked with monitoring the development of the sector.

With the rise in temperatures, "even areas that were previously inadequate for coffee, are already fitting, enabling the country to cope with climate change," he said as Ethiopia is carrying coffee growing in higher areas because of climate change.

Pressure from environmental warming is also seen in other parts of the country.

Changes in climate trends in the southern part of the country have affected exports, says Aman Adineu, CEO of Metad Agricultural Developmen, which manages large plantations in the state of Oromia and in the province of the province of southern nationalities and peoples.

The annual harvest, which is usually harvested in November and December in some coffee plantations, has been postponed for about a month because the grains are not ripe.

Since coffee beans are still green at the start of 2018 because of the scarcity of rain, delays in processing and export have taken place, and in practice this means that the contracts with North American, Asian and European customers are being broken. Therefore, Ethiopia is carrying coffee in higher areas because of the climate to compensate for losses from old areas with plantations.

Small farms, big business

About 90 per cent of coffee farmers in Ethiopia have small farms and the sector directly or indirectly employs up to 20 per cent of Ethiopia's 100 million population, the Ethiopian Marketing Development Service quoted the coffee and tea market.

Exports for the 2016-2017 production year reached more than 220,000 tonnes, according to the trade ministry.

Coffee exports have fluctuated over the past five years, and it is hard to see if there is any downward trend.

Ethiopia carries coffee growing in higher areas due to the climate. However, the state develops tens of thousands of hectares of coffee plantations in new crop growing areas each year, which offsets much of the losses in traditional areas.

The government is making efforts to combat climate change and traditional coffee-growing areas. Authorities offer small farmers training on how to use shade trees to help lower temperatures, as well as irrigation techniques and better storage of crops after harvesting.

Authorities also introduce more durable varieties of coffee, resistant to disease and extreme weather.

The current levels of support for traditional small farmers growing coffee may not be enough to save the sector in these areas. For this reason, the service that monitors the development of the coffee market has focused on growing culture in higher areas, or Ethiopia is carrying coffee growing in higher areas due to the climate.

Changes in the culture of coffee

Tadees Walmermer, a technical consultant at the ECCCFF, points out that growing coffee in areas not previously known to culture could work but caution should be exercised and side effects may occur.

"When traditional coffee-producing areas disappear, thousands of years of coffee-growing will disappear," he said, for a precautionary measure to preserve Ethiopia's coffee-brewing industry, carries coffee growing in higher areas because of climate change.

"High areas in Ethiopia, which have little history of coffee production, can only be an alternative if measures are taken to supplement agricultural to make high-quality coffee sustainable," he added.

According to him, Ethiopia is struggling with time in an effort to save its coffee sector.

The areas in the country suitable for coffee production are shifting to taller lands every year, he said, which means "by the end of the century, most of the coffee-growing areas, especially the areas below 1500 meters above sea level, are no longer available to be suitable for that purpose ".

In some places, this has already happened. Traditional coffee-growing areas, especially in the eastern part of the country, are now covered with cat-like trees. The leaves of this plant, which millions of people in the Horn of Africa have the habit of chewing, contain a psychoactive substance that is used as a mild stimulant.

While coffee harvesting is usually collected once a year, land-resistant leaves can be harvested three times a year.

According to Walmermerm, 60% of traditional coffee production areas in Ethiopia may lose their crops in the coming decades if climate change is not captured, so Ethiopia transmits coffee growing to higher areas due to the climate.

He calls for urgent rescue measures to be taken, although he warns that shifting production to new areas may affect the quality and taste of the coffee.

The government is looking for ways to start selling in new markets amid the planting of new varieties.

The Ethiopian Marketing Service for the Coffee and Tea Market is currently working on creating a market niche for Ethiopian coffee in the world's most crowded country - China, focusing on the young Chinese, hoping to regularly drink Ethiopian coffee " , says Tsaga

The sector directly or indirectly employs up to 20% of the country's 100 million population

Small farms, big business

Changes in the culture of coffee