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Chapter 2: My First Work in the Field

                                                Climate-Smart Coffee Series                            Chapter 2: My First Work in the Field When I officially joined the Climate-Smart Coffee Project, it didn’t start in an office or a meeting room. It started on the road — moving from village to village, walking through coffee farms, and learning from farmers directly. Our first major task was collaborating with the international IDH survey, conducted with Sattva Consultancy, Bangalore. On 16th November, we had an orientation session at the Deepthigiri Dairy Milk Society, led by the project coordinator of Sattva Pragathi along with team members Aabita and Debraj.  Their guidance made the first day smooth and insightful.   Along wi th us were the MSW students — Benhar, Unais, Gauri Nandana, M...
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Chapter 1: Why Climate-Smart Coffee Matters

 Climate-Smart Coffee Series

Chapter 1: Why Climate-Smart Coffee Matters

It’s early morning in my village (Periya, Wayanad),and I’m walking along our coffee plantation. The air is still cool, but I can already feel the heat building. It wasn’t like this before.

When I was younger, coffee seasons felt predictable. If the first showers came on time — the way farmers here always say — we could expect good flowering and a decent harvest. Last year, that didn’t happen.

The rain came late. Then it poured all at once. Flowering was uneven. Cherries were fewer. Some dried early. Others never formed at all. As I walked, I could hear farmers talking — not about yield, but about uncertainty. Pests. New diseases. Heat stress.

Coffee production is slowly decreasing, even though the effort is the same. Ironically, prices went up. Problems in Vietnam and Brazil pushed global prices higher, and Wayanad coffee suddenly became more valuable. But higher prices don’t erase what’s happening on the ground. Shade trees are disappearing. Summers feel harsher. Coffee grown without shade struggles to survive.

Around this time, I joined the Climate-Smart Coffee Project. I didn’t have all the answers — only questions. I wanted to understand coffee better, beyond yield and price, and see what climate really means for the farmers and their land.

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