The “2050 Problem” With Coffee And How One Businessman Is Trying To Tackle It With School Facilities And Healthcare – CoffeeTalk

Japanese businessman Natsuki Okamoto is addressing the coffee industry’s “2050 problem” by improving school toilets in Ethiopia and medical care in Guatemala. The decline in suitable land for growing major coffee beans due to climate change is causing a significant threat to the industry’s supply. The population of coffee growers is also feared to decrease, and without change, the industry could face severe supply shortages by 2050.

In spring 2024, Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart Co. launched an initiative to support children in Ethiopia, a key coffee-producing country. For every cup of its “mocha blend coffee” sold from the Famima Cafe menu, 1 yen (less than 1 cent) was donated toward improving the school environment, including toilets. Okamoto, the acting manager of the coffee division at FamilyMart’s parent company Itochu Corp., played a major role in launching the initiative.

To find out what kind of support is necessary, Okamoto and a FamilyMart representative visited an Ethiopian school where many of the students’ parents grow coffee. The female representative noticed that poor toilet facilities were discouraging girls from attending school. Recognizing the urgency of the issue, they prioritized upgrading the restrooms to support girls’ education.

The initiative also plans to distribute books on coffee history and production to foster a deeper connection to coffee culture. International competition for coffee beans has intensified in recent years, with a 2017 report by World Coffee Research predicting that land suitable for cultivating Arabica beans could halve by 2050 due to climate change.

Global demand for coffee is on the rise, with coffee consumption growing by more than 15% over the past decade, driven by surging demand in China and other emerging economies. Despite its promise as a growing market, the coffee trade faces critical challenges, and securing stable supply from limited production areas is the key to success.

Okamoto joined Itochu in 2006 and has spent his career in the coffee division, visiting 18 coffee-producing countries to support local farmers. He introduced a mobile clinic in Guatemala, which provided free medical and dental care in coffee farming villages. Okamoto expanded the program by collaborating with local staff to increase the frequency of doctor visits.

Coffee, one of the world’s most traded commodities, is known as a primary raw material that connects remote farms in Central and South America and Asia to cafes and homes in developed countries. Okamoto strives to help producers understand their role in the global coffee economy by sharing coffee products developed for consumers in wealthy nations with the farming community.

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