Climate-Resilient Coffee Coming in 2026
By: , March 1, 2025
Photo: DONIQUE WESTON
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, addresses coffee farmers at the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival’s Farmers’ Trade Day held at the University of Technology, Jamaica’s Alfred Sangster Auditorium on February 28.
Photo: DONIQUE WESTON
Project Coordinator/Manager for the Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX), Candice Constantine (left, background), interacts with coffee farmers at a booth display at the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival’s Farmers’ Trade Day. The event was held at the University of Technology, Jamaica’s Alfred Sangster Auditorium on February 28.
Photo: DONIQUE WESTON
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green (second, right), and Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (right), view one of several booths on display at the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival’s Farmers’ Trade Day, held at the University of Technology, Jamaica Alfred Sangster Auditorium on February 28. Also present is Rural Agricultural Development Authority Parish Manager for St. Andrew, Marvin Lawrence (second left), and a representative of H&L.The Full Story
The Government is working to introduce a climate-resilient coffee variety by 2026, in a bid to combat the effects of climate change on Jamaica’s coffee crop.
The announcement was made by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green.
He was speaking at the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival’s Farmers’ Trade Day held at the Alfred Sangster Auditorium at the University of Technology, Jamaica, today (February 28).
Mr. Green explained that while the coffee varieties used in Jamaica over the years are of high value, the climate in the region has changed.
“So, we are looking at what we need to introduce that does not change the taste profile of Blue Mountain Coffee but can stand up to the new climate that we are facing,” the Minister indicated.
He noted that the new coffee variety will produce a higher yield and be more resilient to harsh climate.
“We are doing some work, and we do expect that by 2026, we will have that new variety that we will roll out to our farmers, so that you will get heightened productivity. You will have a coffee that is more resilient to drought, but you will still get the same taste profile,” he assured the coffee farmers.
Meanwhile, the Minister noted that efforts continue to increase the number of Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) extension officers serving coffee farmers.
“We’re trying to get more boots on the ground. We have to extend our extension services. I have listened to you farmers, and I hear some of you say, boy, it is a long time you don’t see an extension officer. We want to ensure that we have more officers that can serve you across the coffee belt, so that when you have a little problem, when it looks like you have a little disease, you know who to talk to,” he said.
Mr. Green noted that the Ministry is partnering with the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA) and RADA to ensure that extension officers can provide support to all categories of farmers.
He added that this is essential, “so that when an extension officer comes, he does not say he is only coming to deal with a non-coffee farmer. Any extension officer in the space must be able to provide the support to all farmers”.
The Farmers’ Trade Day, which came ahead of the eighth annual Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival on March 1, was a one-day expo designed for farmers in the coffee industry.
The farmers got the opportunity to learn more about the coffee value chain, market dynamics, upholding brand authenticity, combatting praedial larceny and other matters concerning the sector.