Anton Eitzinger

Predicted Impact of Climate Change on Coffee Supply Chains

Global circulation models all forecast that climate change will increase mean temperatures and change precipitation regimes. As a result, traditional coffee growing regions may disappear and new regions may appear. At the same time, demand for high quality, responsibly sourced coffee continues to grow globally. For sustainable sources of coffee, participants in the global coffee supply chain need to know where coffee will grow in the future and how the suitability of these areas will change over time. With this information, the supply chain then needs to develop appropriate site-specific mitigation and adaptation strategies for both the short and the long term, to guarantee coffee supply as well as to support improved livelihoods for rural communities. In this paper, we firstly quantify the impact of climate change on the suitability of land to grow coffee in a case study in Nicaragua and on acidity content of beverage coffee in a case study in the Veracruz Department of Mexico. Secondly, we propose site-specific adaptation strategies and finally identify critical potential impacts of climate change on the overall supply chain and the implications for all actors in the system. We conclude the paper by identifying key directions for future research to seek mitigation and adaptation strategies at both the community and the supply-chain level.

The GeoCitizen-approach: community-based spatial planning – an Ecuadorian case study

Over the last years, geospatial web platforms, social media, and volunteered geographic information (VGI) have opened a window of opportunity for traditional Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) to usher in a new era. Taking advantage of these technological achievements, this paper presents a new approach for a citizen-orientated framework of spatial planning that aims at integrating participatory community work into existing decision-making structures. One major cornerstone of the presented approach is the application of a social geoweb platform (the GeoCitizen platform) that combines geo-web technologies and social media in one single tool allowing citizens to collaboratively report observations, discuss ideas, solve, and monitor problems in their living environment at a local level. This paper gives an account of an ongoing participatory land-zoning process in the Capital District of Quito, Ecuador, where the GeoCitizen platform is applied in a long-term study.

Addressing Adaptation to Support Disaster Risk Reduction: A Framework for Supply Chain Inclusive Adaptation to Climate Change

Global climate change (GCC) presents serious challenges to agricultural systems as they strive to meet increasing demand over the coming decades. Within these systems, food value chains are increasingly recognised as being vital for development, yet relatively little is known about the vulnerability of such chains to GCC, or their capacity to adapt. This paper provides a framework to examine how food value chains are affected by the uncertain impacts posed by GCC and what this implies for adaptation. While intervention models mostly deal with measures for producers, the authors hypothesise that adaptation strategies must include the entire chain to achieve the scale needed to tackle GCC. The authors propose that comprehensive situation assessment is necessary to examine both behaviour and assets—two key attributes for adaptive capacities. This framework examines three sets of attributes: (1) The general setup and nature of the supply chain; (2) rural livelihoods’ and food supply systems’ vulnerability to GCC, including downscaled crop suitability modelling to assess precise impacts of GCC, and (3) the behaviour of people and entities involved in value creation and the institutions mediating them. The framework provides decision-makers with a scale, crop and site independent road map to design and evaluate adaptation strategies to changing climate conditions. The authors test the framework in three case studies with differing supply chain characteristics and geographical contexts.

Climate adaptation in a minor crop species: is the cocoa breeding network prepared for climate change?

ABSTRACT Plant breeding has undoubtedly been successful in increasing the yield of high value commodity crops. In recent decades, efforts have been made to repeat this success in ‘orphan crops’ through a network of regional and national organizations largely composed of public and not-for-profit institutions. Adapting to climate change is a key challenge for these networks. Here we seek to analyze the particular challenges that characterize efforts to develop climate-smart varieties in minor crops, using the example of cocoa. Cocoa is a high-value commodity with a global research network; however, to date it has not received sustained attention from major global research centers. We estimate that globally <100 new cocoa varieties have been released since 2000, and our analysis suggests that this low number is constrained not by a limited availability of germplasm, but by limitations in the infrastructure focused on the final stages of breeding. We conclude that selecting minor crops for a future climate requires a long-term, regional approach that exploits modern technologies, integrates participatory selection, and is managed through a centrally funded network.

Playing Out Transformative Adaptation in CCAFS Benchmark Sites in East Africa: "When, Where, How and With Whom?"

Several climate change adaptation strategies were suggested for the Lushoto site. Including engaging community groups to build terraces (matuta ya ngazi) to stop soil erosion; knowledge sharing on best practices for composting farm yard manure for application on the farm to increase soil organic matter; working with the national tree planting program and provide input on contour planting; increasing awareness on zero-grazing; introduce legumious cover crops to improve soil health and reduce erosion; among others. Increased knowledge sharing between researchers, farmers and extension agents was highlighted as an important activity.