Vietnamese coffee under climate change: Challenges and adaptation solutions

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that heatwaves, droughts, heavy rainfall, and floods are becoming more intense and unpredictable. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has also recorded 2023-2025 as the hottest period in history.

Extreme weather events such as storms, flash floods, landslides, unseasonal rains, heatwaves, and forest fires are increasing in both frequency and severity, causing significant damage to the economy, human health, food security, and biodiversity.

Vietnam – a climate change hotspot

With steep terrain and a long coastline, Vietnam is among the countries most heavily affected by climate change. In 2024-2025, natural disasters caused severe losses, particularly from strong storms, flash floods, and landslides. For example, Typhoon Yagi (No. 3) in 2024 devastated 26 northern provinces, leaving more than 500 people dead or missing and causing nearly VND 85,000 billion in damage. In just the first seven months of 2025, natural disasters claimed 114 lives and caused more than VND 553 billion in economic losses.

FAO also warns that Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, will be among the regions facing the highest food security risks due to the dual impact of climate change and water resource decline.

In theMekong Delta, land erosion combined with sea level rise is pushing salinity intrusion further inland, threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers. In the Central region and Central Highlands, 2024 witnessed the most severe drought in a decade, with many rivers and lakes dried up and more than 20,000 hectares of crops affected, including over 7,000 hectares of coffee severely damaged.

Farmers in these regions not only lose crops but also face rising production costs from drilling wells, pumping groundwater, and purchasing fertilizers to restore soil. This is a heavy burden for smallholder farmers, who already lack capital and depend heavily on nature.

Coffee is facing climate change challenges

Prolonged drought and unseasonal rains are estimated to reduce Vietnam’s coffee yield by about 15%. Extended heat and irregular rainfall have disrupted the flowering and fruiting cycle of coffee trees, leading to uneven blooming, high rates of fruit drop, and decreased yield and bean quality. Meanwhile, heavy rains following drought wash away nutrients, cause erosion, break down soil structure, weaken plant resistance, and increase pest outbreaks.

According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), if this situation continues, Vietnam’s coffee export volume could decline by 10-15% during 2025-2027, directly impacting the global supply chain.

Le Thanh Tri, a coffee farmer in Kon Gang commune, Gia Lai province, shared: “I have never felt more pity for the coffee trees than in recent years. Drought cracks the soil, trees wither, then sudden heavy rains cause fruits to fall en masse. Without new solutions, it will be very difficult for us farmers to survive.”

Facing this reality, technical solutions to adapt to climate change are becoming a matter of survival for coffee farmers.

With the motto “always a companion of farmers,” Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company, under the Dau Trau brand, has cooperated with the National Agricultural Extension Center and the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute to implement the program “Climate-smart coffee cultivation.”

The program aims to establish climate-smart coffee farming practices that adapt to climate change, stabilize and improve soil fertility, and increase farmers’ income as well as benefits for partners in the coffee production chain.

A notable feature of the program is the direct participation of farmers in building and testing models. As a result, the solutions are highly practical, easy to apply, and replicable, giving farmers more confidence in production.

Beyond technical support, the program also organizes numerous training sessions and directly transfers cultivation processes to coffee farmers.

The program’s success not only turns climate change risks into motivation for adopting modern cultivation techniques but also contributes to maintaining the global position of Vietnamese coffee.

The achievement in responding to climate change has sent a strong message: adapting to climate change is the only path toward sustainable coffee development. When businesses, scientists, and farmers join hands, challenges can become opportunities to elevate Vietnam’s coffee industry to new heights.

* $1 = VND 26.453 - Source: Vietcombank.