Poor Farmer

American Chemical Society August 11, 2014 SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2014 — Coffee drinkers beware: Surprise ingredients that are neither sweet nor flavorful may be hiding in your coffee, and growing coffee shortages may increase the chance of having these fillers in your cup of joe in the future. The good news is that a highly accurate test is in the works to quickly find coffee containing unwanted fillers before the beverage reaches stores and restaurants. These extra ingredients, though not harmful, make ground coffee go farther and increase profits for producers, according to researchers. Their report will be part of the 248 th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society. The meeting features nearly 12,000 reports and is being held here through Thursday. A test to detect counterfeit coffees is becoming more important in light of growing shortages in regions, such as Brazil, where droughts and p...

Kagondu Njagi Thomson Reuters Foundation July 18, 2014 MURANG’A, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Coffee, once a reliable cash crop in Kenya, has been hard hit by the country's erratic weather patterns. Some farmers have swapped to more climate-resistant crops; others struggle through, making barely enough to live on. But for a growing number of Kenyan coffee farmers, an insurance plan that protects their harvest against losses to extreme weather and weather-related ailments is making coffee growing a less bitter experience. In collaboration with international institutions such as the Foundation for Sustainable Development, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and the U.K.'s Department for International Development, Kenyan insurance companies have over the past few years put in place index-based weather insurance to provide a financial cushion for farmers who lose crops due to flooding, drought, or other climate-linked disasters. “Agricult...