Who Will Fund the Future of Coffee?

If coffee production is under threat from climate change—and we all know it is—what can coffee companies do to help? Aside from massively reducing their own emissions and investing in regenerative agriculture and agroforestry in their supply chains, I mean.

As well as the direct risk from climate change in the form of droughts and floods, coffee faces numerous connected challenges, like increasing instances of pests and diseases, declining numbers of pollinators, and the need to breed more climate-resistant varieties. That’s where coffee research organisations come in, with the most well-known (at least in the Global North) being World Coffee Research (WCR).

These organisations rely on funding from both the public and private sectors. But it looks like public money is becoming more scarce, while the biggest coffee companies seem loath to pull their weight. If coffee is to survive into the next century, who will fund its future?