On October 17, 2026, we’re teaming up with the Romero Initiative to host an event titled “Coffee, Climate, Crisis: Who Pays the Price for Our Pleasure?” at the Späth’sche Baumschulen.

What does our daily cup of coffee have to do with the climate crisis, women’s rights, and migration in Honduras? 

For many people in Germany, COFFEE is a part of everyday life. But behind every cup are coffee farmers whose livelihoods are increasingly threatened by the climate crisis. Honduras is one of the world’s leading coffee-exporting countries and is feeling the effects of rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, extreme weather events, and the spread of plant diseases particularly acutely. The consequences: declining harvests, growing poverty, a lack of prospects for the future, and increasing migration. These are manifestations of a global crisis whose causes and effects are closely linked to our consumption patterns and international trade structures.

Yenis Goméz, Benigna Ramos, and Adelina Vásquez from Honduras report on the challenges facing coffee producers and rural communities today. Their message: The consequences of the climate crisis have long been a reality and affect, in particular, those people who have contributed the least to its emergence. At the same time, the causes and effects are closely linked to global trade structures, political measures, and our consumption patterns.

A Profile of Our Guests:

Yenis Goméz represents the new generation of Honduran women coffee producers. She advocates for sustainable coffee farming, the empowerment of women and young people, and the long-term viability of the coffee sector. Through her work in rural savings and credit groups, she advocates for better access to financing and brings practical experience in dealing with the consequences of the climate crisis.

Benigna Ramos is a coffee producer with many years of experience who is committed to empowering women in the coffee sector. She shares firsthand insights into the impacts of climate change on coffee cultivation and explains how smallholder producers can become more resilient to environmental and economic challenges through collective organization.

Adelina Vásquez is a human rights defender and executive director of the Centro de Desarrollo Humano (CDH) in Honduras. She works on climate justice, food security, and the rights of indigenous women. Adelina supports communities affected by the climate crisis and connects their experiences with an analysis of the political and economic conditions at the national and international levels.

Europe's Thirst for Coffee / Germany's Thirst for Coffee

Coffee is one of the most important commodities in global trade. Hardly any other agricultural product links the everyday lives of consumers in Europe so directly to the realities of life for millions of small-scale farmers in the Global South. In Germany, coffee is an integral part of everyday culture. With an average of 161 liters per capita per year, it is the country’s most consumed beverage and thus the second most popular drink after water. Germany is one of Europe’s largest coffee markets and one of the world’s leading importers and processors of coffee. Some of the coffee consumed here comes from Honduras, Central America’s largest coffee exporter. Germany is the most important buyer of Honduran coffee and is thus closely linked to local production conditions. Although the market for sustainably certified coffee is also growing—about one in five coffee packages in Germany now bears a sustainability label—the share of Fairtrade coffee remains comparatively low at 5.3 percent. The Coffee Barometer 2026 also shows that the industry’s structural problems persist: The incomes of many producers are still below a living wage, while the majority of value added remains in the consuming countries. 

Honduras: A Land of Coffee 

For Honduras, coffee is the country’s economic lifeline. Around 110,000 families derive their main income from coffee cultivation. About 95 percent of producers are small-scale farmers, most of whom cultivate only a few hectares of land. Overall, the coffee sector provides a livelihood for about one million people. Coffee accounts for about 30 percent of the agricultural gross domestic product and makes up nearly a quarter of the country’s total exports. Today, Honduras is Central America’s largest coffee exporter and one of the world’s leading coffee producers. The success of Honduran coffee is based primarily on smallholder production. The country’s high-altitude regions, with their fertile soils, offer ideal conditions for high-quality Arabica coffee, which is highly regarded internationally. Yet it is precisely these conditions that are coming under increasing pressure. 

How the Climate Crisis Threatens Coffee Farming 

The climate crisis has long been a reality in Honduras. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, droughts, heavy rains, and the increasing spread of diseases and pests are putting massive pressure on coffee cultivation. Arabica coffee, the most important coffee variety worldwide, is particularly affected. Scientific studies estimate that the amount of land suitable for coffee cultivation worldwide could decrease by about half by 2050. The effects are already evident today. Coffee farmers like Benigna Ramos report unpredictable rainy seasons, increasing droughts, and crop losses. Higher temperatures also favor diseases such as coffee rust (Roya) and pests such as the coffee berry borer. Yenis Gómez is also experiencing the consequences firsthand: In some years, there have been significant losses in the coffee harvest. For many families, this means declining incomes and growing insecurity. The social consequences are particularly dramatic. When coffee no longer generates sufficient income, many young people leave their communities. The climate crisis and migration reinforce each other: Declining yields lead to loss of income, workers migrate, and production costs continue to rise. The effects extend all the way to Europe. Crop failures in major coffee-producing countries are already contributing to rising coffee prices. At the same time, experts warn that high-quality coffee could become scarcer in the future. If policymakers and companies continue to shift the costs of climate adaptation onto producers, there is a risk of increasing poverty, more migration, the loss of coffee-growing regions, and a further rise in coffee prices.