Ethiopia's Coffee Farmers Are 'On The Front Lines Of Climate Change'
A new study says that Ethiopia could lose more than 50 percent of its coffee growing regions to climate change. But, higher altitude areas could become more suitable for coffee in the coming decades.
Ethiopia gave the world Coffea arabica, the species that produces most of the coffee we drink these days. Today, the country is the largest African producer of Arabica coffee. The crop is the backbone of the country's economy – some 15 million Ethiopians depend on it for a living.
But the effects of climate change – higher temperatures and less rainfall – could take a toll on the country's ability to farm this treasured crop. Climate data shows that rainfall in Ethiopia has declined by almost 40 inches since
