Coffee Is Now So Expensive That Farms Are Becoming Crime Scenes – CoffeeTalk

Ugandan farmer Charles Waliggo is waking up at night to patrol his plot of coffee crops, while others are being urged to use dogs or bees to guard plantations. Security measures are necessary to prevent thieves from stealing unharvested beans under cover of darkness, a problem that has become more serious as prices soar. Two of the country’s farming associations say coffee theft has hit unprecedented levels this year. This is another example of how food and drink have become lucrative targets for criminals. In recent years, rising prices and a cost-of-living crisis sparked a string of thefts of everything from African cocoa beans and Spanish olive oil to ham and donuts. Coffee has drawn attention as drought in key grower Vietnam and strong demand squeezed global supply and made it much more expensive.

The raids are “due to the fact that prices of coffee have gone higher than before,” said Ronald Buule, executive director of Uganda’s Central Coffee Farmers Association, known as CECOFA. The now common problem in the world’s fifth-biggest bean exporter “has created insecurity in coffee farms,” he said. Global prices of robusta coffee — favored for instant drinks — hit the highest since the 1970s this year, raising costs for roasters and consumers. In Uganda, farm-gate prices for unshelled robusta known as Kiboko jumped as much as 65% since the start of the year to a record 7,000 shillings ($1.89) per kilogram, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority.

Crime is much higher than in previous years, as the police force hasn’t compiled data on cases dealt with by local authorities and the government hasn’t published coffee-theft statistics. Food and beverages accounted for more than a fifth of all products stolen globally last year, up from 17% in 2022, according to the British Standards Institution. Some Ugandan farmers suspect many thefts are committed by local people, often youths, who then sell the beans into the supply chain.

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