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First the bad news. Two species of coffee that are commonly drunk – Arabica and robusta – are at great risk in the era of climate change.
Now the good news. Farmers in one of Africa’s biggest coffee-exporting countries are developing other varieties of coffee that are more resistant to heat, drought and diseases that are being changed by global warming.
For years, they’ve only mixed it into low-priced bags of robusta. This year, they are trying to sell it to the world under its original name: Liberica excelsa.
“Even if it’s very hot, it’s okay,” said Golooba John, a coffee farmer near the town of Zirobwe in central Uganda. Many years ago, because the robusta trees were dying due to pests and diseases, they were replaced by Liberica trees. On six hectares, Mr. John now has only 50 robustas, and 1,000 Libericas.
He also drinks. He says it’s more aromatic than robusta, “more delicious.”
Catherine Kiwuka, a coffee specialist at the National Agricultural Research University, calls Liberica excelsa “a neglected species of coffee.” They are part of an experiment to introduce them to the world.
If possible, it could be an important lesson for small coffee farmers elsewhere, showing the importance of wild coffee varieties in a warming world. Liberica excelsa is native to tropical Central Africa. It was cultivated for some time in the late 19th century before petering came out. Then there is the damage from climate change. The peasants revived Liberica.
“With climate change, we have to think about other species that can sustain this industry, globally,” said Dr. Let’s go.
Currently, the goal is to develop high-quality Liberica excelsa for export.
Volcafe, a global coffee trading company, hopes to ship up to three tons this year to specialty roasters overseas, including in the UK and the United States.
While Arabica and robusta are the two cultivated coffee species, more than 100 species grow in the wild. One variety of Liberica has been cultivated in Southeast Asia for over a century.
Another variety is Liberica excelsa, which comes from the lowlands of Uganda. Compared to robusta, which is also native to Uganda and the dominant coffee species grown in the region, Liberica takes longer to mature and produce fruit.
Libericas tower over robustas. Each tree can grow up to eight meters high, so the farmers have to climb the bamboo ladders to harvest. Or you have to cut the trees so that the branches are wide and do not go up.
About 200 farmers have grown Liberica in small pockets, selling it to local traders along with the robusta harvest, and getting robusta prices. Dr. Kiwuka said he felt as if the farmers had been “cheated”.
Liberica has a stronger aroma and is a higher quality coffee, he said; farmers are supposed to get higher prices.
In 2016, he invited Aaron Davis, a coffee scientist from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, England, to Zirobwe. He was skeptical at first. He has tasted Liberica elsewhere and found it to be like “vegetable soup,” he said.
But then, the next day, he grinds beans from Zirobwe in the hotel room. Yes, coffee researchers always pack a portable grinder when they travel.
“Actually, it’s not that bad,” he remembers thinking. It has potential.
Dr. Davis is no stranger to the risks of facing coffee. The study found that climate change and deforestation are putting more than half of the world’s wild coffee species at risk of extinction.
Dr. Kiwuka and Dr. Davis joined. He will encourage farmers to increase the harvest and drying of Liberica’s crops. Instead of throwing away the robusta beans, they will sell the Libericas separately. If they meet certain standards, they will get a higher price.
“In a warming world, and in an era of supply chain disruption, Liberica coffee could re-emerge as a major crop,” he wrote in Nature, a scientific journal, last December.
It has become the main crop in Deogratius Ocheng’s orchard.
When it rains heavily, like last year, two hectares of robusta suffers. The leaves are withered. Cherry is not formed properly. Similar problems are experienced in Uganda, where robusta is the dominant species.
Exports are expected to be lower this year, compared to last year, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority. Drought and pests are to blame. If he had relied only on robusta, Mr. Ocheng said, “I would have been very poor.”
Fortunately, he had two more acres of Liberica.
How does Liberica excelsa taste when dried, peeled and roasted? Dr. Davis calls it “smooth” and “easy to drink.” Heavy aroma, less caffeine than robusta.
“It’s Beaujolais nouveau,” he said. “It’s very soft.”
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