Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chains

Žiga Malek; Margret Loeffen; Mélanie Feurer; Peter H. Verburg

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2022.07.008

Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chains

Žiga Malek^*
, Margret Loeffen
, Mélanie Feurer
, Peter H. Verburg

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environmental Geography

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Supply chains of agricultural commodities, such as banana, cocoa, coffee, and tea, are vulnerable to climate change. Their ability to adapt depends on assessments of climate change impacts on producing regions. Such assessments are, however, missing despite available climate projections. Here, we analyze how drought, heat stress, and heavy precipitation could affect over 1.6 million producers within the Fairtrade supply chain by 2050 by using projections from general circulation models. Globally, Fairtrade producers will mainly be subject to increased heat stress. Drought might present particular pressures on Brazilian and Central American coffee producers and on tea producers in southeastern Africa. Heavy precipitation might become more common for producers of cocoa and coffee in the Andes, coffee producers in East Africa, and tea producers in South Asia. Our approach enables the identification of how sensitive different regions are to climate change, allowing for timely adaptation. This is crucial for continued commodity supply and sustainability of farmers’ livelihoods.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	917-931
Number of pages	15
Journal	One Earth
Volume	5
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2022.07.008
Publication status	Published - 19 Aug 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International. All authors contributed the concept and design of the study. Ž.M. and P.H.V. implemented the methods and evaluated the data. All authors contributed to data interpretation. Ž.M. summarized and visualized the results. All authors drafted and discussed and approved the manuscript. M.L. is an employee of Fairtrade International. Fairtrade International did not interfere in the research design, implementation, or manuscript preparation but helped by providing data on producers’ locations.

Funding Information:
The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Inc.

Funding

The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International. All authors contributed the concept and design of the study. Ž.M. and P.H.V. implemented the methods and evaluated the data. All authors contributed to data interpretation. Ž.M. summarized and visualized the results. All authors drafted and discussed and approved the manuscript. M.L. is an employee of Fairtrade International. Fairtrade International did not interfere in the research design, implementation, or manuscript preparation but helped by providing data on producers’ locations. The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 1 No Poverty
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 13 Climate Action

Keywords

adaptation
agricultural commodities
climate change
drought
extreme rainfall
heatwaves
smallholders
supply chain
sustainable farming

Access to Document

10.1016/j.oneear.2022.07.008

fairtrade_preprintZMSubmitted manuscript, 1.92 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND
Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chainsFinal published version, 3.9 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

Persistent URL (handle)

Persistent link

Cite this

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title = "Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chains",

abstract = "Supply chains of agricultural commodities, such as banana, cocoa, coffee, and tea, are vulnerable to climate change. Their ability to adapt depends on assessments of climate change impacts on producing regions. Such assessments are, however, missing despite available climate projections. Here, we analyze how drought, heat stress, and heavy precipitation could affect over 1.6 million producers within the Fairtrade supply chain by 2050 by using projections from general circulation models. Globally, Fairtrade producers will mainly be subject to increased heat stress. Drought might present particular pressures on Brazilian and Central American coffee producers and on tea producers in southeastern Africa. Heavy precipitation might become more common for producers of cocoa and coffee in the Andes, coffee producers in East Africa, and tea producers in South Asia. Our approach enables the identification of how sensitive different regions are to climate change, allowing for timely adaptation. This is crucial for continued commodity supply and sustainability of farmers{\textquoteright} livelihoods.",

keywords = "adaptation, agricultural commodities, climate change, drought, extreme rainfall, heatwaves, smallholders, supply chain, sustainable farming",

author = "{\v Z}iga Malek and Margret Loeffen and M{\'e}lanie Feurer and Verburg, \{Peter H.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International. All authors contributed the concept and design of the study. {\v Z}.M. and P.H.V. implemented the methods and evaluated the data. All authors contributed to data interpretation. {\v Z}.M. summarized and visualized the results. All authors drafted and discussed and approved the manuscript. M.L. is an employee of Fairtrade International. Fairtrade International did not interfere in the research design, implementation, or manuscript preparation but helped by providing data on producers{\textquoteright} locations. Funding Information: The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1016/j.oneear.2022.07.008",

language = "English",

volume = "5",

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journal = "One Earth",

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T1 - Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chains

AU - Malek, Žiga

AU - Loeffen, Margret

AU - Feurer, Mélanie

AU - Verburg, Peter H.

N1 - Funding Information: The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International. All authors contributed the concept and design of the study. Ž.M. and P.H.V. implemented the methods and evaluated the data. All authors contributed to data interpretation. Ž.M. summarized and visualized the results. All authors drafted and discussed and approved the manuscript. M.L. is an employee of Fairtrade International. Fairtrade International did not interfere in the research design, implementation, or manuscript preparation but helped by providing data on producers’ locations. Funding Information: The study was supported by the European Commission Framework Partnership Agreement. The contents of the study are the sole responsibility of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or Fairtrade International. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2022/8/19

Y1 - 2022/8/19

N2 - Supply chains of agricultural commodities, such as banana, cocoa, coffee, and tea, are vulnerable to climate change. Their ability to adapt depends on assessments of climate change impacts on producing regions. Such assessments are, however, missing despite available climate projections. Here, we analyze how drought, heat stress, and heavy precipitation could affect over 1.6 million producers within the Fairtrade supply chain by 2050 by using projections from general circulation models. Globally, Fairtrade producers will mainly be subject to increased heat stress. Drought might present particular pressures on Brazilian and Central American coffee producers and on tea producers in southeastern Africa. Heavy precipitation might become more common for producers of cocoa and coffee in the Andes, coffee producers in East Africa, and tea producers in South Asia. Our approach enables the identification of how sensitive different regions are to climate change, allowing for timely adaptation. This is crucial for continued commodity supply and sustainability of farmers’ livelihoods.

AB - Supply chains of agricultural commodities, such as banana, cocoa, coffee, and tea, are vulnerable to climate change. Their ability to adapt depends on assessments of climate change impacts on producing regions. Such assessments are, however, missing despite available climate projections. Here, we analyze how drought, heat stress, and heavy precipitation could affect over 1.6 million producers within the Fairtrade supply chain by 2050 by using projections from general circulation models. Globally, Fairtrade producers will mainly be subject to increased heat stress. Drought might present particular pressures on Brazilian and Central American coffee producers and on tea producers in southeastern Africa. Heavy precipitation might become more common for producers of cocoa and coffee in the Andes, coffee producers in East Africa, and tea producers in South Asia. Our approach enables the identification of how sensitive different regions are to climate change, allowing for timely adaptation. This is crucial for continued commodity supply and sustainability of farmers’ livelihoods.

KW - adaptation

KW - agricultural commodities

KW - climate change

KW - drought

KW - extreme rainfall

KW - heatwaves

KW - smallholders

KW - supply chain

KW - sustainable farming

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85136017509

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85136017509#tab=citedBy

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DO - 10.1016/j.oneear.2022.07.008

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85136017509

SN - 2590-3330

VL - 5

SP - 917

EP - 931

JO - One Earth

JF - One Earth

IS - 8

ER -

Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chains

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Fairtrade and climate change: Systematic review, hotspot analysis and survey

Climate change impacts on Fairtrade farmers

Cite this

Regional disparities in impacts of climate extremes require targeted adaptation of Fairtrade supply chains

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Research output

Fairtrade and climate change: Systematic review, hotspot analysis and survey

Activities

Climate change impacts on Fairtrade farmers

Cite this