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Coffee — The Daily Global ConnectionLesson 2 of 17

The Coffee Belt: Where Coffee Grows and Why

Goal: After this lesson you can describe the Coffee Belt and name the conditions Arabica needs to grow. Subject: Geography | Run time: about 6 minutes

Quick recall

Last time we set up the four lenses. Two quick questions. One: name the four lenses. Geography, social studies, economics, and English language arts. Two: which lens asks where coffee grows? Geography. That is today.

Why this matters

Coffee is one of the fussiest crops on the planet. It will not grow just anywhere. Almost all of the world's coffee comes from a single band wrapped around the middle of the Earth (International Coffee Organization, 2024). Step outside that band and the plant struggles, then dies.

The idea

That band has a name. We call it the Coffee Belt, and it runs from 25 degrees north of the equator to 30 degrees south (International Coffee Organization, 2024). Inside it, 81 countries grow coffee to sell, across three continents (International Coffee Organization, 2024). Why that band, and not somewhere cooler? It comes down to what the main coffee species needs. Arabica is the species in about 70 percent of the coffee people drink (Davis et al., 2012). Arabica is picky. It wants temperatures between 15 and 24 degrees Celsius, which is about 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. It wants 1,500 to 2,000 millimeters of rain a year. And it grows best up high, between 800 and 2,000 meters above sea level (Davis et al., 2012). Push past 30 degrees Celsius and the plant suffers. Let it frost and the plant can die (Davis et al., 2012). There is a second species, Robusta, that fills in the rest. Robusta takes more heat, shrugs off more disease, and grows lower down, from 200 to 800 meters (International Coffee Organization, 2024). The trade-off shows up in the cup. Growers prize Arabica for flavor and Robusta for strength and yield. So the belt is not random. It is the set of places that happen to sit at the right latitude, the right height, and the right rainfall for a tropical plant that hates frost and hates extreme heat.

Picture it

Picture a green sash tied around a globe at the waist, a little wider above the equator than below it. Now picture almost every coffee farm in the world sitting somewhere on that sash, and most of the best ones sitting up in the cool of the mountains, not down on the hot coast. The map on this lesson shows the belt shaded green with the top growers marked inside it.

Remember this

The fact to carry out: coffee is geographically narrow. It grows in the Coffee Belt, 25 north to 30 south, because Arabica needs mild temperatures, steady rain, and altitude (Davis et al., 2012; International Coffee Organization, 2024). That narrowness is why climate, money, and history all press so hard later in this episode. There is not much spare ground to give.

Quick check

Quick check. A grower wants to plant Arabica. Do they look for a hot, low coastal plain or a mild, high mountain slope? The mild, high slope. Arabica wants altitude and mild temperatures, not lowland heat (Davis et al., 2012).

Key Takeaways

  • The Coffee Belt runs from 25 degrees north to 30 degrees south, and 81 countries grow coffee inside it (International Coffee Organization, 2024).
  • Arabica is about 70 percent of the coffee people drink and needs 15 to 24 degrees Celsius, 1,500 to 2,000 mm of rain, and 800 to 2,000 m of elevation (Davis et al., 2012).
  • Robusta is about 30 percent, takes more heat and disease, and grows lower, from 200 to 800 m (International Coffee Organization, 2024).
  • Coffee's growing range is narrow, so climate, money, and history all press hard on a small amount of land.

Sources

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