Author: Qahwa World |
Date: July 1, 2026
Coffee Is Under Threat: How Scientists Are Fighting to Save It from Extinction
Key Takeaways:
- Coffee is critically threatened by climate change, with arabica suffering or dying when temperatures rise just a few degrees.
- Robusta requires massive amounts of water and its yields drop drastically in drought conditions.
- Ethiopia, the homeland of arabica coffee, is preserving genetic diversity through conservation areas and living collections of over 12,000 plants.
- Scientists are exploring wild coffee species such as C. liberica, C. excelsa, and C. stenophylla that are more climate-resilient.
- C. stenophylla, a forgotten species from the 18th century, tastes remarkably similar to specialty arabica from Rwanda.
- Chemical tricks like grinding frozen beans can improve extraction and reduce waste, allowing better flavor from less coffee.
“A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems”, a quote often attributed to the late Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős. Coffee is one of the world’s favorite drinks and an essential stimulant for many researchers. But its future is uncertain. “Coffee is critically threatened by climate change,” says Kassahun Tesfaye, a plant geneticist at Addis Ababa University.
Nearly all the 10 million tonnes of coffee beans consumed annually around the world come from two plant species: the strong and often bitter robusta (Coffea canephora) and the more delicate-tasting arabica (Coffea arabica). Unfortunately, arabica suffers or dies when temperatures rise just a few degrees, and robusta requires massive amounts of water and its yields drop drastically in a drought. Researchers are racing to keep the world’s coffee drinkers awake – and preserve the livelihoods of the many lower-income-country farmers who grow the cash crop.
The Birthplace of Arabica and Genetic Diversity in Ethiopia
Ethiopians are proud of their country for being the homeland of arabica coffee. The Ethiopian government has been establishing conservation areas to preserve the natural genetic diversity of the species. It also grows more than 12,000 arabica plants in living collections at the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute in Addis Ababa and at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research in Jimma. The government is betting that these plants will provide the material for breeding – or genetically engineering – arabica cultivars with traits designed to withstand high temperatures and drought.
Wild Coffee Species: Liberica, Excelsa, and Stenophylla
As temperatures increase, arabica cultivation might need to move to increasingly higher terrain to stay cool, which will not be easy for owners of small coffee plantations. Another solution is to grow other species of coffee plant that can better withstand climate change. There are 134 known wild coffee species, and a few are being grown for their climate resilience, including C. liberica and C. excelsa.
Aaron Davis, a researcher at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, says “the success stories are always about changing the species” that farmers grow. In wet regions, that could mean switching from arabica to robusta, but in other places it could instead mean growing C. liberica, which tolerates higher temperatures than arabica does and does not require as much water.
Davis has also tried a “bonkers” coffee species, Coffea stenophylla, which was described by a Swedish botanist in West Africa in the 18th century and then largely forgotten by science. “It still freaks me out, because here we have a coffee which isn’t related to arabica, occurs in an extreme environment – and yet tastes like a very specific arabica from Rwanda.” The challenge, he says, will be to breed varieties of C. stenophylla that are productive and that farmers find easy to grow.
| Species | Characteristics | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
| Arabica (Coffea arabica) | Delicate taste, most popular | Heat-sensitive, dies with slight temperature rise |
| Robusta (Coffea canephora) | Strong, bitter, heat-tolerant | High water demand, yields drop in drought |
| Liberica (Coffea liberica) | Heat-tolerant, tropical fruit flavors | Different taste, not for everyone |
| Excelsa (Coffea excelsa) | Climate-resilient, fruity and almondy notes | Rarely cultivated, not well known |
| Stenophylla (Coffea stenophylla) | Tastes like Rwanda arabica, tolerates harsh conditions | Low productivity, cultivation challenges |
Chemistry Tricks: Grinding Frozen Beans and Improving Extraction
Some researchers are looking for ways to get more out of the shrinking arabica supply. Christopher Hendon, a materials scientist at the University of Oregon, says: “There’s a lot you can do at the consuming side.” Hendon and his collaborators have found that grinding coffee beans at below freezing temperatures results in smaller particles. However, counter-intuitively, they also found that finer grinds do not necessarily yield tastier brews. Smaller particles tend to aggregate through electrostatic forces, reducing the surface area exposed to water – and thus the amount of chemicals entering solution – but tweaks to the grinding techniques, such as starting with moist beans, can help reduce the clumping.
Somewhat surprisingly, coarser grinds can also release more of the good stuff into an espresso, but this happens only when beans are put under pressures as low as 7 atmospheres. (A typical coffee-house machine works at around 10 atmospheres.)
Chemistry: The Key to Coffee’s Future
Chemistry is also crucial to investigating alternative coffee plants and how to turn them into desirable products. Hendon says the science of coffee is still young, and researchers are working to develop reproducible and objective techniques. “Compositional measurement is a big challenge,” says Hendon, “and so is assigning a numerical value to flavor.” A typical cup of coffee might contain more than 2,000 organic compounds, and their concentrations vary greatly depending on how and where the plant is grown – and how the beans are roasted.
Tesfaye emphasizes that scientists, of all people, should care about coffee’s future, not just because science is good for coffee, but because coffee is good for science, too. “Many discoveries and knowledge are generated after having a cup of coffee.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee’s Future Under Climate Change
Q: Why is coffee threatened with extinction?
A: Due to climate change. Arabica is highly sensitive to rising temperatures, while robusta requires large amounts of water and suffers from drought.
Q: What are the proposed solutions to save coffee?
A: Solutions include preserving arabica genetic diversity, breeding heat and drought-resistant varieties, cultivating wild species like liberica, excelsa, and stenophylla, and improving grinding and extraction techniques.
Q: What is Coffea stenophylla?
A: A wild coffee species described in the 18th century and then largely forgotten. It tastes similar to specialty arabica from Rwanda and tolerates harsh environmental conditions.
Q: How can chemistry help address the coffee crisis?
A: Through improved grinding and extraction techniques, such as grinding frozen beans, to extract better flavor from less coffee, and developing objective methods to measure flavor.
Q: What is Ethiopia’s role in preserving coffee?
A: Ethiopia is the homeland of arabica coffee. The government is establishing conservation areas and living collections of over 12,000 plants to preserve genetic diversity.
Coffee faces an existential threat from climate change, but scientists around the world are working tirelessly to save it. From preserving genetic diversity in Ethiopia, to exploring resilient wild species, to improving grinding and extraction techniques, the future of coffee depends on scientific creativity and international collaboration. As one researcher said, “Many discoveries are generated after having a cup of coffee.” Let us work together to preserve this precious beverage for generations to come.
Prepared and edited by: Qahwa World – Based on an article in Nature.
All rights reserved. Republication with attribution permitted.
Publication date: July 1, 2026
