Kerstin Linne knows the challenges faced by coffee-growers
German coffee-sector expert Kerstin Linne knows the challenges climate change presents to coffee-growers from start to finish. Linne shuttles between coffee countries of origin like Brazil, Guatemala, Indonesia or Kenya, training coffee-growers to adapt to accelerating climate change. In her work she encounters both prejudice and enthusiasm.
Kerstin Linne says that coffee-growers are aware of the effects that climate change is already having on their plantations. “They are aware of what is happening on their fields: how much it's rained, whether there's enough water, whether it's usable and, for example, how the coffee bushes' flowering has gone. On the other hand, the growers lack the latest scientific research data and forecasts of climate change. It's my job to put together daily observations with existing facts and to help them to understand how and why what they do has to change,” Kerstin says. “It's great to see, time after time, how motivated coffee-growers are to act after they get proper information. For them, giving up in the face of challenges is not an alternative,” she comments.
Kerstin hasn't picked an easy job, as nothing is certain with climate change. “When predictability goes, the growers are in trouble as their capacity for adapting to it is slight, however you measure it. It's very hard for growers to get training and financial backing for their work,” Kerstin reports.
Almost half the year on the road for coffee
Kerstin Linne took her MBA in economics of developing countries in Bremen and Mexico. She has written numerous articles and publications about sustainable development. Today she travels around the world on behalf of her own company to work for the cause of climate change for nearly half the year. Kerstin gives talks, consults and meets people in the coffee business and growers, trying to find common ground between them. “Experiences of the growers' everyday lives should be used on international projects more. One of my most important missions is to act as a voice for growers with the producers and industry. The growers know best what they need and the kind of problems they have to cope with,” points out Linne, who also visited Finland in October to attend the Paulig Coffee Seminar..
Kerstin reckons there are plenty of challenges, and not all needs can be met. “It's hard to get financial backers along onto projects because scientific information about the impact of climate change on coffee cultivation is on the forecast level. The uncertainty doesn't attract them.” One project which is going ahead well and where Kerstin is also involved is a climate project started in 2011 by Paulig and five other European companies in the coffee sector together with the German development cooperation organisation GIZ, entitled Coffee & Climate.
Cultural differences and friendship
Working in the coffee countries of origin like Kenya is, according to Kerstin, a challenge because of cultural differences and the language barrier. Although the official national languages are English and Swahili, a total of 42 local languages are spoken there.
“It's understandable that growers want to use their own mother tongue for communication, so you need an interpreter to help at meetings. Once you've made contact through discussion, suspicions about this young foreign woman's ability to be helpful usually fade away. Many people feel they genuinely benefit from information and guidance and they even want to make friends with me. For instance, it isn't unknown for me to be invited to the family home for a meal. It feels really great to get so much trust and this is one of the job's more rewarding sides,” Kerstin tells us.
Almost two-thirds of the world's coffee comes from small plantations of less than two hectares in area. Since smallholders' success in their work cannot be taken for granted in regions afflicted by climate change, Kerstin hopes that consumers will also not take their morning cup of coffee for granted. “For most producers, coffee is their only source of income and they do an enormous amount of work every day so that we get coffee to enjoy,” Kerstin points out. www.greenlinne.com