Coffee Farmers and Climate Change in Colombia

August 02, 2016 | Pulitzer Center

Camila DeChalus

Wearing long sleeves and colorful scarves, these women begin picking coffee until the sun goes down. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Coffee picking in Nariño is heavily dominated by women. One coffee picker told me that coffee is not only a job but it's also a way of life. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Coffee picking in Nariño is heavily dominated by women. One coffee picker says coffee is not only a job but also a way of life. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

With long sleeves and a colorful scarf wrapped around her head.Precilla begins to pick coffee beans off the trees. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Precilla begins to pick coffee beans off the trees. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

In 2008 the plant fungus "La Roya" began to appear in coffee farms across the country,since than the fungus has destroyed over 50,000 coffee plants in the last five years. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

In 2008, the plant fungus "La Roya" began to appear in coffee farms across the country. Since then it has destroyed over 50,000 coffee plants. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Coffee plants need a lot of water in order to grow, which leaves many families that produce coffee unable to use clean water for themselves, days at a time. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Coffee plants need a lot of water in order to grow, which leaves many families who produce coffee unable to use clean water for themselves, days at a time. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

This year 80% of the coffee produced in the area called "Santander" could not be sold due to high temperatures and lack of rain in the Nariño region. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

This year 8 percent of the coffee produced in the area called "Santander" could not be sold due to high temperatures and lack of rain in the Nariño region. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

76 year old Luis Señunes bought his farm in the 1970's with hopes that one day he will be able to pass it along to his four sons and daughters. But as conditions worsen, he wonders if his dream will come true. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

76-year-old Luis Señunes bought his farm in the 1970s with hopes that one day he would be able to pass it along to his four sons and daughters. But as conditions worsen, he wonders if his dream will come true. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Coffee is both a blessing and a curse, 240,000 coffee-growing families rely on coffee to make an income and as conditions worsen they fall victim to poverty. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Coffee is both a blessing and a curse: 240,000 coffee-growing families rely on coffee to make an income, yet, as conditions worsen, farmers fall victim to poverty. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Every year these farmers have a two-month period to harvest coffee and every year they fear it might be their last. Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

With a wooden cross wrapped around his neck, a coffee farmer grabs a handful of coffee beans that he picked that day. He laughs and says, “this is what hope looks like." Image by Camila DeChalus. Colombia, 2016.

Over the past 10 years, Colombia has become one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate change. The southwestern regions of Colombia, where the majority of indigenous communities live, constantly experience riverbank erosion, livestock depletion, and loss of soil nutrients. The drastic conditions of global climate change have left millions of coffee farmers unemployed and destitute. The Catholic Relief Services based in Colombia has taken the initiative to start Borderlands Coffee Project in Nariño, which tries to provide alternative solutions to combat climate change before it's too late.