May 2012 C&CI • Climate Change • 25
Their studies forecast a significant threat to the livelihoods of coffee producers in Nicaragua. CIAT’s latest policy brief on coffee in Mesoamerica underlines the need for farmers to adapt, migrate or diversify," Mrs Broomes explained, noting that, over the last three years, Twin has begun to engage with key players in the coffee industry to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change and explore practical solutions.
Greater resilience
At the smallholder level, the project will enable farmers to develop more resilient production systems and manage natural resources more sustainably. This will be achieved through the training of agricultur- al extension workers and promoters at cli- mate change field schools and work- shops.
Climate change adaptation in Uganda
Twin is also involved in a climate change project in Uganda, where the Welsh Assembly and chari- ty Comic Relief funded the first phase of a pilot climate change adaptation project with Gumutindo Coffee Co-operative. The project has enabled Twin to develop a best practice approach for sup- porting smallholder adaptation, which will be rolled out to other partner organisations. Members of Gumutindo live in the upland valleys of Mount Elgon, where they produce high qual-
ity organic and Fairtrade certified coffee. Climate change presents a serious threat to these small- holder coffee farmers who are already suffering from increased climate variability. Impacts include longer drought periods and heavier rainfall which in turn lead to poor quality coffee cherry, low yields and severe erosion. In March 2010 following extremely heavy rains, they experienced a dev- astating landslide which killed over 300 people that live and farm in the Bududa District on Mount Elgon. A further 35 people lost their lives, and many others their livelihoods, in another landslide in August 2011. Gumutindo’s farmers are working with Twin to plan and implement activities that enhance the cli-
mate resilience of its members and the wider community, and to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change. Combining local knowledge and coping strategies with scientific climate projections, farmers have prioritised specific adaptation activities to help protect against the impacts of climate change. These include soil erosion and soil fertility. As a first step, participating farmers have become involved with a community cow-share project
with Send-a-Cow Uganda, in order to provide organic manure to enhance soil fertility, as well as the added benefits of improved family health and diversified income sources from milk. A tree nurs- ery and training scheme have also been implemented with funding from the Waterloo Foundation to enhance soil stability through reforestation and improve coffee quality by increasing shade.
At the smallholder level, the project will enable farmers to develop more resilient production systems and manage natural resources more sustainably
In addition, demonstration sites will be
developed to showcase adaptive tech- niques and an online education platform will be developed to disseminate informa- tion to farmers through the field schools. Community-based participative evaluation workshops will be carried out in three vil- lages to identify adaptation processes and highlight apparent gaps in knowl- edge areas which need to be addressed. Based on this, a community-level aware- ness campaign will be developed.
Managing volatility
At the producer organisation level, the project will build capacity to manage volatile markets affected by increasingly unpredictable supply. Price risk manage- ment and planning workshops will be organised to collectively analyse market risk. This will enable producer organisa- tions to develop robust seasonal market strategies as well as to strategically assess and plan for long-term risks asso- ciated with climate change.
Twin says many smallholders recognise that climate change is taking place and
affecting them but do not have the resources to adapt
The project will also develop market-
ing systems and capabilities that enable smallholder coffee farmers to differenti- ate themselves based on their climate credentials. Coffee will be marketed to
buyers at a premium based on farmers’ climate change and environmental cre- dentials, appealing to the self-interest of key stakeholders. This will ensure con- crete, practical action is taken in putting environmental concerns at the heart of coffee buying. At the national level, the project will
influence the coffee sector and the gov- ernment of Nicaragua to create sustain- able funding mechanisms and support policies that enable smallholders to fund the investments required to adapt to cli- mate change. Roundtable meetings will be held with key stakeholders in Nicaraguan smallholder coffee value chain, influencing and advocacy work will be undertaken and the Smallholder Coffee Adaptation Fund mentioned above will be established. Ian Barney, Managing Director of Twin
said the company was delighted to be embarking on what he described as "this ambitious new project." "We expect it to make a positive and
sustainable impact on the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers and some 10,000-plus households in Nicaragua. Working with Cafénica, the project will address key practical and agricultural needs to help safeguard smallholder livelihoods into the future," he told C&CI. C&CI
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