Succession is particularly important in smallholder farms.

Coffee is among the most popular beverages on the planet, with over 2.25 billion cups drank worldwide every day. However, most coffee consumers are not aware of a growing crisis at its origin – the coffee farm. While consumption of coffee beverages is growing at an incredible rate, only 5% of coffee producers worldwide fall under the age of 35.

This creates an age gap which raises concerns for the industry’s future as farmers get older without anyone to inherit their farm. Expocacer, a cooperative in the Cerrado Mineiro region in Brazil (also known as the Cerrado Coffee Growers’ Cooperative), developed a program called Teens to tackle this issue in Brazil’s coffee-growing communities.

We spoke with Sandra Moraes, Specialty Coffee Manager at Expocacer, to better understand their work to encourage the next generation of coffee farmers to take on the family business.

Why is the Next Generation Turning Away from the Farm?

Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer, forecast to produce 69.9 million 60kg bags of coffee in 2024/5. Like in other coffee-growing countries, most coffee farms in Brazil are smallholder farms, owned and operated by a single family. Succession is particularly important in smallholder farms, and not only for the continuation of the family’s business.

Coffee production is a craft, and with the declining interest of younger farmers, we are at risk of losing the knowledge and skills gathered by previous generations. But how could coffee production face such a crisis when consumption is booming? Unfortunately, there are multiple answers to this question.

Income Instability

The first and probably most important reason younger people are not attracted to succeeding their family on the farm is linked to income instability. As an agricultural product, the income from coffee production depends heavily on yields. With many external factors at play, the yield of a coffee farm may be inconsistent. This leaves coffee farmers with a constant level of uncertainty about whether they will be able to sustain and provide for their families. The coffee plant is considerably delicate, requiring very specific weather and ground conditions to generate quality beans.

Outbreaks of diseases such as coffee leaf rust are unpredictable and can affect an entire farm. This hurts the farm’s ability to produce sufficient amounts of coffee, damaging its income potential. Shifts in weather conditions can hurt producers’ bottom line too. Temperature changes and natural disasters are out of the farmers’ hands but can hurt an entire harvest.

Since most coffee-growing countries have just one harvesting season per year, some farms may lose a whole year’s income due to severe weather events. he market also plays a role in destabilizing farmers’ income as the price of coffee fluctuates regularly. According to MacroTrends, the year-close price for a kg of coffee dropped from $4.98 in 2021 to $3.68 in 2022.

In this case, a smallholder farm producing 500 bags of coffee (60kg each) suffered a $39,000 blow to its revenue between 2021 and 2022, all things equal. This is without considering the increasing production costs like worker wages, fertilizer, processing, and more (currently, year-close price in 2024 is $5.74/kg).

Internal Factors

Another reason younger people are leaving the coffee farm comes from inside the family. Many parents want to protect their children from the hardships they have experienced in life and coffee farmers are no different. Parents and grandparents know the high risk, low-reward nature of coffee production and want better lives for their children.

Thus, they encourage them to move to the city, get an education, and find a steady, respectful job. Ensuring a better life for future generations is a top priority, even if it means putting an end to the family business. The uneven distribution of wealth is a significant point of concern. Coffee production lacks stability, and more often than not, the farmers take all the risk on themselves.

With so many players within the distribution chain, producers make as low as 0.10% of the end product’s price. Sometimes, this does not even cover the farm’s expenses, which is why 44% of small coffee farms worldwide have earnings below the poverty line. There is also a gap in knowledge of the business of coffee. Expocacer’s Sandra Moraes explains: “Producers are not aware of the broad range of opportunities in the family business and have a limited view of coffee growing, usually restricted to the reality of the farm and not the business as a whole.”

Focused strictly on growing coffee, older generations were never exposed to the rest of the distribution chain, sometimes not even knowing how much their coffee is actually worth. To put this in perspective, in 2023 a farmer was paid an average of $3.63 for 1kg of coffee. On the other end of the equation, a 12oz bag of roasted specialty coffee sold for around $22. That’s a difference of more than 1,300%.

The distance between the coffee farm and the rest of the market is a major driver in the exodus of young family members. “Many younger generations feel limited to production management and not to the strategic management of coffee farming, including negotiations and market opportunities,” Moraes adds.

What is Expocacer doing to Incentivize Succession in Coffee Growing?

Established in 1993, Expocacer’s mission is to promote coffee quality among its 700 producer members and ensure social, economic, and environmental sustainability in the Cerrado Mineiro region. Its infrastructure includes two warehouses with the capacity of holding over one million bags, and it helps members process, store, and export their coffee to more than thirty countries.

“The cooperative aims to inspire change and the progressive expansion of value in every decision,” says Moraes, “generating positive impact and establishing our commitment to the future of coffee growing.” Part of that commitment comes in the form of Teens, a program aimed at increasing the succession rate in Brazil’s coffee farms.

Cultivating the Future Today

Teens is a program where youth aged 14-21 from coffee-producing communities have the opportunity to learn about the broader business of coffee and the range of processes and opportunities it incorporates. “Those who are born on a farm are many times discouraged from continuing their parents’ activities, which is why it is very important to introduce new perspectives, technologies, and experiences,” says Expocacer’s Director of Organizational Development Raquel Paza Lazzarin. Throughout the program, participants are introduced to parts of the business that expand well beyond the farm.

The program is divided into stages and combines theory with real-life practice. Starting with the foundations, young farmers learn about the history of coffee in Brazil and the principles of a coffee cooperative. They are later exposed to specialty coffee concepts that will assist them in ensuring the quality of their crop. This involves learning about sustainable cultivation, requirements and best practices for producing specialty-grade beans, coffee classifications, cupping, and roasting. Finally, they are educated on the business side of things.

Courses in production management, leadership, and marketing provide future coffee producers with tools to make the family business more efficient, innovative, and profitable. They also visit the Expocacer warehouse and the farms of cooperative members to interact with industry workers and witness the size and significance of the coffee market. Teens, now on its third edition, sparks optimism for the future of coffee production. But the road to succession is not as smooth as we would like.

Some participants are as young as 14 years old and much can happen between the time they complete the program and the time they are ready to take the reins of the farm. Ensuring they stay on the coffee-growing path remains a major concern, Moraes explains. “One of the biggest challenges we face is ensuring that participants truly commit to paths of family succession in coffee farming. There is always a need to innovate, update, and adapt our strategies to engage young people meaningfully.”

But Expocacer has much to stay hopeful about as its efforts are showing signs of fruition. “We have already seen the success of the project as some teenagers are showing increased interest in becoming involved in their family business,” says Moraes. “We have also observed a growing sense of belonging among cooperative families towards the projects and initiatives developed by Expocacer.” Maria Reis of Fazenda Barros farm is currently attending the program.

“I find it interesting and very exciting so far,” she reflects on her experience. “I have really enjoyed immersing myself in this world and preparing for the future. I hope to learn more about coffee culture and the pre/post-harvest processes. I believe Teens will help me persist in my agronomy path, in my future, and in continuing my family’s work. I believe the impact will be good for me and my family, and together we will be able to achieve our goals.”

Teens is funded entirely by Expocacer and the cooperative has exciting plans for the future. Moraes is particularly looking forward to incorporating technical visits, social and environmental actions, and interactive activities with the cooperative. “These initiatives aim to strengthen the program’s impact and expand its activities to promote sustainable and engaged development across the entire ecosystem,” she adds.

Farm Succession: An International Threat to the Coffee Industry

The issue of farm succession isn’t unique to Brazil. Income instability, unfair wealth distribution, and the lack of business knowledge drive teenagers in all coffee- producing countries to pursue a future elsewhere. Lina Uribe, a fourth-generation coffee producer in Armenia, Colombia, pinpoints equity as a key factor in the succession issue: “If we want young people to stay in the fields, we need equity from the market. A farmer wants the same dignity as a roaster, an exporter, or an importer, and that will come from more equity in the price.”

Fighting for a Common Cause

For coffee farmers to have an honest share in the market, they must first know what determines the value of their product, which requires an understanding of the coffee market as a whole. Similar to Expocacer’s work in Brazil, organizations in other origin countries work to close the gap between farmers and the rest of the market. In Kenya, the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology offers certification programs in coffee technology, quality management, and cupping. Unblended Coffee developed the Young Producer Program, where they teach Colombian farmers about the business of coffee, its distribution chain, efficient farming, and branding.

Illy Cafe offers a comprehensive Master’s Degree in Coffee Economics and Science, with partial or full financial coverage for promising young applicants from coffee-producing countries. The issue of farm succession reflects on the entire industry and addressing it should be everyone’s responsibility. From the farmers themselves to the end consumers, we can all do something to contribute. The new generation of farmers dreams big and seeks fulfilment.

This creates an unprecedented opportunity to combine the skills of previous generations with the new generation’s ambition and innovation and break out of the confinements of the farm. Lina Uribe broke the market’s barriers for her family. “I am the first in my family to speak English, the first to pursue an international Master’s degree, the first who thought about directly exporting our coffee, and the first to cross the ocean and offer our coffee to the world.”

She explains how simply learning a second language would allow young farmers to communicate with the rest of the industry and potentially earn a seat at the table. Being closer to the end consumer, exporters, importers, and roasters can play a big role. Showcasing the person and family behind the coffee consumers love so much can contribute to its value. More importantly, it will help establish the farmer’s brand.

Young farmers want to feel proud of their work and this type of recognition can help accomplish that. Additionally, sharing the financial risk by committing to pre-financing agreements will provide stability and generate more equity for the farmer. As consumers, we can express more interest in the coffee we consume. Educating ourselves about different origins and processes will increase our appreciation for coffee and ensure we consume a quality product.

So next time you enter a coffee shop, see if there’s any information about where it came from. Does the farmer have a website or social media? Perhaps you can actively seek coffees that showcase and tell the stories of their producers. One thing is for sure, your relationship with coffee is bound to change for the better.