(ANSA) - TRIESTE, DEC 2 - Andrea Illy, the chairman of
illycaffè, told ANSA on Thursday that "it is forecast that 50%
of the land where coffee can be cultivated will no longer be fit
for the purpose between now and 2050" because of climate change.
"Coffee is highly sensitive to climate change and the first
thing to suffer the impact will be the quality, followed by
quantity," he continued during the ceremony for the sixth
Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award, the prize that
illycaffè gives to the best sustainable coffee producer and
which was won this year by India's Jumboor Estate.
"So the big challenge will be to practise 'regenerative'
agriculture and focus on quality.
"The challenge we have before us will not just be managing to
produce in the current conditions, which are increasingly
adverse from the climate point of view, but also do it while
increasing production to satisfy growing demand without
resorting to the bad practices of the past, such as
deforestation to make way for plantations, and do it while
improving quality.
"The challenge can be won via investments in plantations," he
concluded.
"I am convinced that we will do it and it will be a success".
(ANSA).
50% of coffee-cultivation land at risk by 2050- Andrea Illy
Climate change challenge is to focus on sustainability, quality