How Do Coffee Affect Latin America

Latin America might have started later than most places in the coffee industry, but it is now a lead producer and is consumed all around the world. Coffee originated in Africa and eventually spread throughout Arabia, Europe, the far East, and the Americas. The most known coffee-producing countries in South America are Columbia and Brazil. Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador are known for producing smaller crops that are consumed inside the country (Excluding Peruvian coffee). With over 220,000 coffee farms, the coffee industry is only getting larger and it’s important for people to know about where the majority of the coffee they drink comes from, and how climate change in South America can eventually have a bad effect.

Producing coffee can be difficult

Coffee arrived in Brazil in the 18th century. It became a top producer by 1840 and peaked in the 1920’s due to more countries around the world beginning to produce. This country makes “everyday/average” coffee, excluding Säo Paulo’s beans. Bourbon Santos and flat bean Santos are grown, bourbon being the higher quality of the two. Brazil is hands down the world’s largest coffee producer, and has had this title for the past 150 years. Coffee plantations cover around 27,000 km^2 or 10,000 square miles of the country. The plantations are located in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Paraná because growing conditions are ideal in those areas. Brazil tends to grow most of its beans as Arabica. 30 percent of the beans are grown as Robusta. Espìrito Santo is a smaller state that produces 80% Robusta

Low temperatures can be handled, but “light frosts” kill the flowers that can be harvested. “Black frosts”, however, can be much more damaging. These kill the entire tree and a whole new one would need to be replanted. This sets the farmer back about 4 years because that’s how long it takes for a young tree to begin producing flowers. Out of all of the major coffee producers, Brazil is the only one with a frost problem. Another negative effect of frost is prices rising worldwide because Brazil dominates the majority of the coffee made. Every 5-6 years coffee prices are known to rise due to these frosts. A well-known and destructive black frost occurred in 1975. Paraná, São Paulo, and Minas Gerais were hit the hardest. Two thirds of the crops were already completed so the first year was not as damaging as the second year. The next black frost damaged 74% of the plants. As expected, the price of coffee