Kenya's coffee crop nosedives due to high temperatures, low prices
A farmer tending to coffee berries at a farm. Poor farming methods and low prices in the world market are to blame for coffee sector’s poor performance. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NMG
Kenya’s farmers are grubbing up their coffee bushes to plant other crops as low prices and climate change drive small growers to the brink of collapse.
Arabica coffee, the higher-quality variety that Kenya grows, ends up in speciality beverages from Berlin to San Francisco. The plant thrives in moderate temperatures and high altitudes. But rising temperatures are scorching plants, making them susceptible to diseases such as coffee leaf rust.
