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Java without java? The crisis brewing in coffee
Nearly every coffee production area worldwide is being hit by climate change. In Indonesia, there is also the question: Who wants to be a coffee farmer?
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Workers inspecting coffee beans at an Indonesian facility in Semarang, Java.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Daniel Moss
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In coffee country, people don’t need an extra shot to recognise their future is tough. On an iconic Indonesian island, powerful forces are eroding an industry that not only helped caffeinate the world, but provided livelihoods for generations and had a significant historical role as a template for economic development. It’s not outlandish to contemplate Java without java.
Climate change has been central to the good times and instrumental to coffee’s discouraging prognosis in Indonesia, the world’s fourth-biggest producer.
