Impact of Climate Change on the Production of Coffea arabica at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Sigrun Wagner, Laurence Jassogne, Elizabeth Price, Martin Jones and Richard Preziosi
Additional contact information
Sigrun Wagner: Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
Laurence Jassogne: TerraQ Pte.Ltd., Singapore 288062, Singapore
Elizabeth Price: Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
Martin Jones: Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK
Richard Preziosi: Ecology and Environment Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD, UK

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Adapting coffee production to climate change is a significant challenge requiring a detailed understanding of local climatic change patterns and the consequences, both real and perceived, for coffee production. To this end, we examined changes in precipitation at Mt. Kilimanjaro over the last two decades and conducted twelve focus group discussions to obtain farmers’ perceptions on climate change, the impact of extreme weather events on coffee production and the potential of shade trees as an adaptation strategy. Despite an increase in total annual precipitation, farmers are still confronted with droughts due to a shift in seasons. We found a delayed onset of the main rainy season and showed that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole contributes to the increase in precipitation during the short rainy season. Farmers clearly described the impacts of drought or excess rainfall on coffee production during flowering, maturation, and harvest. Thus, adaptation strategies need to be tailored such that specific coffee development stages are buffered against the effects of droughts, shorter wet seasons, and less frequent but heavier rainfall events. To develop the potential of shade trees as an effective adaptation strategy, optimum shade density, specific tree species, and management practices need to be identified.

Keywords: climate change; East Africa; Coffea arabica; shade trees; farmers’ perceptions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/1/53/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/1/53/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:1:p:53-:d:478186

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().