Jaime Alberto Garcia Florez, a Sierra Nevada farmer, tends to his coffee crops at his farm in Siberia township
One Sierra Nevada farmer, Javier Ardila, 44, said coffee workers would wear coats in the afternoons 30 years ago but now temperatures reach around 28C.“We are natives of the Sierra Nevada and we feel really sad because we know every day is getting worse,” he said. Mr Ardila said: “Coffee could be destined to disappear. If the prices are not good, then we have to change to other crops.“If after harvesting, you sell everything and you’re still in the same place, it’s very hard for you to continue in the business.”
The organisation has been using Fairtrade Premium payments to help farmers invest in “agroforestry” systems, which involves planting a variety of trees among the crops to provide shade, bolster biodiversity and improve the soil as a way to save future production. Since 1994, an estimated 10 million people across Latin America, Africa and Asia have benefited from Fairtrade terms with 6,000 products being sold in the UK alone.