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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Analysis of current and future bioclimatic
suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
Asnake AdaneID*
Department of Geography and Environmental, Wollo University, Ethiopia
*asnake.adane@wu.edu.et
Abstract
The coffee sector in Ethiopia is the livelihood of more than 20% of the population and accounts
more than 25% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Climate change is expected to
affect the climatic suitability of coffee in Ethiopia, and this would have implications for global cof-
fee output, the national economy, and farmers’ livelihoods in Ethiopia. The objective of this
paper is to assess the current and future impacts of climate change on bioclimatic suitability to
C.arbica production in Ethiopia. Based on the current distribution of coffee production areas
and climate change predictions from HadGEM2 and CCSM2 models and using the Maximum
Entropy (MaxEnt) bioclimatic modeling approach, future changes in climatic suitability for C.
arabica were predicted. Coffee production sites in Ethiopia were geo-referenced and used as
input in the MAXENT model. The findings indicated that climate change will increase the suit-
able growing area for coffee by about 44.2% and 30.37% under HadGEM2 and CCSM2 mod-
els, respectively, by 2080 in Ethiopia. The study also revealed a westward and northwestward
shift in the climatic suitability to C. arabica production in Ethiopia. This indicates that the suitabil-
ity of some areas will continue with some adaptation practice, whilst others currently suitable
will be unsuitable, yet others that are unsuitable will be suitable for arabica coffee production.
These findings are intended to support stakeholders in the coffee sector in developing strate-
gies for reducing the vulnerability of coffee production to climate change. Site-specific strategies
should be developed to build a more climate resilient coffee livelihood in the changing climate.
Introduction
At a global level, many coffee-producing regions spatially coincide with areas considered as
biodiversity "hotspots" [1]. The East Africa Biodiversity Hotspot is anticipated to experience
the brunt of climatic change [2]. With this, the distribution and sustainability of coffee produc-
tion systems have been affected by global climate change [3].
Ethiopia is the origin and diversity of coffee [4], yet is facing the impacts of climate change.
It is one of the major coffee-producing countries, and its coffee production has increased in
the last 25 years. This is attributed to the expansion of new production areas by changing land
use, not increasing yield on existing land (Minten et al., 2018). For example, over the past 10 to
15 years, while production increased by 3600 tonnes/year, annual yield decreased by 18.8kg/ha
[5]. This implies an expansion of the coffee production area; notwithstanding, the cause and
extent of expansion remains unclear.
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OPEN ACCESS
Citation: Adane A (2024) Analysis of current and
future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica
production in Ethiopia. PLoS ONE 19(10):
e0310945. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.
pone.0310945
Editor: Tzen-Yuh Chiang, National Cheng Kung
University, TAIWAN
Received: May 21, 2024
Accepted: September 9, 2024
Published: October 23, 2024
Copyright: ©2024 Asnake Adane. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
Data Availability Statement: All data that support
the study are in the manuscript and supporting
information files.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific
funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
Coffee is an important crop in Ethiopia, both ecologically and economically. Coffee agroe-
cosystems provide ecological services like moderating the local climate and reducing soil ero-
sion [6]. In terms of economy, coffee plays a pivotal role in the socio-economy of Ethiopia; it is
the livelihood of more than 20% of the economically active population and contributes more
than 25% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings in the context of changing climate [2].
Nevertheless, coffee crops are highly sensitive to changes in climate, which can decrease
both the quantity and quality of harvests [6,7]. Thus, climate change could severely affect the
available growing regions of coffee; cause alteration of climate suitability forcoffee crop and its
production intensity, in turn,leads to a change in the spatial range of coffee production [8,9].
Many of the ideal areas of coffee production suffer from increased temperature and variation
in rainfall patterns[10,11], and some studies have lamented that growing quality coffee will be
impossible by 2080 [10]. Research on how climate change will affect coffee crop suitability
have revealed that the places that are appropriate for coffee production will shrink and shift to
higher elevations [11]. production The coffee sector faces formidable challenges due to climate
change interms of suitability, quality and quantity [12].
However, research on the potential impact of climate change on aspects of coffee has
remained far apart in space and time [12]. Particularly, climate change’s current and predicted
impacts on coffee in Ethiopia have been understudied [13], and few studies have yielded
inconsistent and contradictory findings about the future effects of climate change on the spa-
tial range of coffee production in Ethiopia. For example, Davis et al.[14] reported that the opti-
mal available land for Arabica coffee production in Ethiopia could drastically decrease by 2080
due to climate change. In contrast, La¨derach et al. [15] and Perfecto et al. [16] pointed out that
climate change would increase the spatial range of coffee production in Ethiopia due to the
mountainous nature of the country. This indicates mixed findings on climate change’s effect
on coffee production in Ethiopia, highlighting a need for further research. Moreover, majority
of studies on current and future impacts of climate change on coffee have been conducted in
the Americas; albeit Eastern African countries like Ethiopia’s coffee livelihoods have also sub-
stantial contribution to the local,national global economies [17,18] as well as generates ecologi-
cal services [19]. While many studies attempt to address the effects of the current and past
climate changes on Ethiopia’s coffee sector, the predicted impacts of climate change on the
spatial range of coffee production in Ethiopia are overlooked [7]. A detailed spatial analysis of
current and future coffee production under climate change is important to inform policy-
makers to devise robust conservation strategies for sustainable coffee livelihoods in Ethiopia
[20].
The current study aims to assess Ethiopia’s current and potential climate suitability of C.
arabica production areas. The specific objectives are i) to model the distribution of climate suit-
able to coffee production in Ethiopia based on data on where coffee is grown at present; ii) to
compare the difference between the current and the projected climatic suitability as being the
modeled impact of climate change on coffee suitability; and iii) discuss the change in areas suit-
able to coffee production within Ethiopia that may attribute to changes in bioclimatic variables.
Materials and methods
Study area
Ethiopia is located in the horn of Africa (Fig 1), as a part of the eastern African highlands. Ethi-
opia, with an area of 1, 106,000 km
2
, has a highly diversified terrain and mountain environ-
ments with high elevations (4,620 m asl) in Seimen mountain and low elevations (<125 m bsl)
in the Afar Triangle. About 56% (619,360k km
2
) of the country’s area is highland. The high-
land part of the country consists of both actual and potential coffee production areas, as
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climatic suitability for coffee production moves upward to the higher altitude coffee. Ethiopia
is well known for being the home of Arabica coffee and its fine quality coffee, which is
acclaimed for its aroma and flavor characteristics. Ethiopia can potentially increase coffee pro-
duction due to its suitable elevation, climate, and indigenous quality coffee varietals [14].
The main coffee-producing areas in Ethiopia are west and southwest, southern, eastern,
and central regions [21]. The main coffee growing or cultivation areas are found within the
Oromia Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), with
modest production in the Amhara Region and minor or limited output in the Benishangul-
Gumuz Region. These regions also have specialized and high-value coffee production and
cover mainly agroecological zones with the highest agricultural potential area and the main
coffee production districts in Ethiopia as well.
Methods
Coffee distribution data and sample selection
Current climatic suitability data for coffee production was collected using field survey in Ethi-
opia (Fig 2). Additional locations suitable to produce C.arabica were identified based on
Fig 1. Location map of Ethiopia in the horn of Africa (extracted from https://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/esri::world-
countries/explore?location=-1.440657%2C0.000000%2C3.00).
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information obtained from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Development Authority(ECTDA),
national coffee research institute of Ethiopia and literature reviews. More than 700 occurrence
points known for growing arabica coffee were considered for the study (see suplmentary mate-
rial). 75% of the C. arabica occurrence data were fitted into the model in association with bio-
climatic variables, and the remaining 25% of the data was used to assess model evaluation [22].
The following figure shows the occurrence points of coffee production in Ethiopia.
Source and selection of environmental variables
Suitability models fitted in present conditions can be transferred to future periods based on
emissions scenarios to determine and quantify potential variations in species spatial ranges
attributed to climate change [23]. The nineteen bioclimatic variables were obtained from
WorldClim database (http://www.worldclim.org) [18] that are CMIP6 downscaled and repre-
sent minima, maxima, and seasonality in temperature (˚C) and precipitation (mm) at a spatial
resolution of 30 arc-seconds (1 km
2
).
The bioclimatic variables were extracted from monthly temperature and rainfall records
worldwide.Typically, the variables are utilized in ecological niche modeling in order to gener-
ate more biologically meaningful variables [24]. The accuracy of the resulting prediction can
be negatively impacted by overfitting of the model due to high correlation and collinearity
between bioclimatic variables [25]. To reduce multicollinearity effects, the Pearson correlation
coefficient (r) between each variable was computed, and highly correlated variables (r �0.80)
were omitted in the model [26].
From the highly correlated variables, one was chosen to represent the data based on its pre-
dictive power (based on jackknife training gain) [21]. After eliminating highly correlated
Fig 2. Map of the occurrence points of C.arabica production.
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variables, only nine variables were used in the model. These bioclimatic variables were BIO1,
BIO5, BIO6, BIO10, BIO11, BIO12, BIO13, BIO15 and BIO16 (Table 1). The Jackknife test
was employed to assess the contribution of each bioclimatic variable to best fit the model. The
model was iterated 15 times to assess the threshold, while the Bootsrap was set to 25. Input
data preparation of environmental layers and presence points was undertaken in ArcGIS 10.8
before they were used in MaxEnt version 3.3.4 [22].
Two GCMs were used to predict future climate conditions. These were the third Hadley
Centre Global Environmental Model (HadGEM2) [27] and the Community Climate System
Model version 2 (CCSM2) [28], which were available in the WorldClim database at the time of
writing the paper. The models were downscaled global climate models (GCMs) from the Cou-
pled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6).The models were selected due to their
(1)exhaustive bias-corrected data for the periods under study (2021–2040, 2041–2060 and
2061–2080). and (2) their better performance in the Ethiopian environment [29–31]. The
representation concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5, which is an optimistic scenario shortly after
2100, a lower long-run radiative forcing target level was used in the models [27]. The study
acknowledges the difference in the equilibrium climate sensitivity(ECS) between the two mod-
els, where CCSM2 and HadGEM2 have ECSs of 5.16 and 5.55, respectively [32]. This differ-
ence in climate sensiyivity between the two models would be a merit to this study as it is based
on only the optimistic RCP.
Modelling approach
A ’presence-only’ modeling of environmental niche a was employed to determine C. arabica’s
current and future distribution. Presence-only models can generate reliable predictions from a
few presence datasets, and it is cheaper option to absence data [26]. Maximum Entropy (Max-
Ent) Modeling was employed to assess current and future bioclimatic suitability for coffee pro-
duction in Ethiopia. MaxEnt v.3.4.4, was download from http://biodiversityinformatics.amnh.
org/open_source/maxent/. Maxent predicts species distribution based on the limits of envi-
ronmental variables for species relative to the background niche availablity [33]. It uses the
areas where the species (in this case, C.arabica) is found and associates it with the environmen-
tal variables deemed important for predicting occurrences [34]. In MaxEnt, the probability of
species occurrence in an area due to environmental variables can be computed as a sum of
each weighted variable divided by a scaling constant. This will provide the output as a proba-
bility between 0 (not likely to occur) and 1 (most likely to occur) [35].
The nine bioclimatic variables were converted to ASCII raster format using ArcGIS 10.8.
The ASCII format data were then imported into the MaxEnt v.3.4.4 along with the species data
Table 1. Selected bioclimatic variables considered in the study.
Code Description unit
BIO1 Annual Mean Temperature ˚C
BIO5 Max Temperature of Warmest Month ˚C
BIO6 Min Temperature of Coldest Month ˚C
BIO10 Mean Temperature of Warmest Quarter ˚C
BIO11 Mean Temperature of Coldest Quarter ˚C
BIO12 Annual Precipitation mm
BIO13 Precipitation of Wettest Month mm
BIO15 Precipitation Seasonality (Coefficient of Variation) percent
BIO16 Precipitation of Wettest Quarter mm
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(with csv format) for suitability prediction [22]. The software package’s basic settings included
the following parameters: a random seed, a random test percentage of 25, 10 replicates, and a
replicated run type of ‘subsample’. 75% of the distribution points were randomly chosen for
the training set and the remaining 25% were used for the test set when the random test per-
centage was set to 25% [29]. The model was run ten times with the identical parameters by set-
ting the number of replicates to ten. The final result was obtained by averaging the output of
each run.
A sample selection bias, which might affect presence-only modeling [36], is expected in
such a type of modeling. This is because the sample points would not be uniformly gathered
from all parts of the study areas (whereby some parts of the study area might be sampled more
frequently than others). However, occurrence data were collected based on the known coffee
producing areas without duplication [30]. In this case, MaxEnt removes duplicate presence
point by default,i.e points within the same grid cell will be reduced to only one occurrence,
thereby reducing spatial biases.
Model training and validation
MaxEnt has a validation technique that helps assess the modeling output. The most common
technique is plotting all sensitivity values (true positive fraction) on the y-axis against their
equivalent (1—specificity) values (false positive fraction) for all available thresholds on the x-
axis [26]. The technique helps generate the receiver operating curve (ROC), which has been
used as as a threshold- independent measure of predictive accuracy [37]. The Area Under the
Receiver Operating Characteristics Curve (AUC) was used to assess model performance,
which ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 [38]. An AUC value of less or equal to 0.50 represents the lower
performance of the model than random distribution, and an AUC value close to 1.0 shows bet-
ter performance of the model [38,39]. The model performed well if the AUC is greater or
equal to 0.78 [40]. Moreover, the True Skill Statistics(TSS), a better measure for the predictve
performance of presence–absence predictions than others like kappa, was employed as a
threshold- dependent measure in the study. The TSS statistic, provides results that are highly
correlated with the threshold-independent AUC statistic [37]. It ranges from −1 to +1, where
+1 represents perfect agreement and values of zero or less indicate a performance of the model
no better than random.
The sensitivity- specificity sum maximization technique was employed to convert the bio-
climatic suitability into different suitability classes [41]. The final probability range (0–1) was
generated by the model and then converted into percentage intervals to visualize and aggregate
easily in ArcGIS 10.8. Finally, the percentage intervals were transformed into five categories-
not suitable N (0–0.2), marginally suitable (S4) (0.2–0.4), moderately suitable (S3) (0.4–0.6),
suitable (S2) (0.6–0.8), highly suitable (S1) (0.8–1.0). The area coverage and change in each
class were also computed and analyzed [42]. The final ASCII outputs in maps and figures from
the MaxEnt were converted into raster format using the Arc Toolbox tool in the ArcGIS soft-
ware [43].
Results
Effect of variables on the ecological niche of C. arabica
Fig 3 shows the response curves that depict how the predicted probability change in C. arabi-
ca’s presence with the variation of each environmental variable, considering other environ-
mental variables at average sample value. The response curves show how coffee responds to
different values of each variable by running a simulation based on only that variable. For
example,annual precipitation(BIO12) that affects C. arabica production significantly showed
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an increasing suitability as the precipitation increased begining from 500mm. In addition,the
response curves predict that coffee grows best iin areas with mean annual temperatures
between 15˚C to 23˚C (Fig 3).
Generally, all the temperature variables have been negatively responded to by coffee suit-
ability with dropping off and rising at different points. On the other hand, BIO12’s response
curve predicts the mean annual rainfall, showing that optimal coffee production is possible
with 500mm and that suitability increases with increasing annual rainfall. Unlike the tempera-
ture variables, many of the rainfall variables have been positively responded to the coffee
plants; increasing rainfall increases the suitability of the coffee plants.
Model performance
The AUC value determines whether the model’s prediction of the distribution of C. arabica is
better or worse than randomly plotting the distribution of coffee. The model of the coffee dis-
tribution indicated an AUC value of 0.82 with a standared deviation of 0.02, indicating the
simulated model performed well and can be used for adequate analysis (Fig 4). Under the cur-
rent climatic conditions, a visual assessment of the prediction about the presence points
revealed a consistent agreement between the presence points and predicted coffee suitability.
The true skill statistic(TSS) value(0.89) also indicates a better performance of the presence-
absence predictions(36).
Variable importance analysis
Table 2 indicates the estimates of the relative contributions of the climatic variables to the
Maxent model. Precipitation and temperature-related variables were important in determin-
ing suitability for coffee production in Ethiopia. The annual rainfall (BIO12), which accounts
Fig 3. Response curve of the bioclimatic variables.
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for 54.3% of the expected change in suitability, is the most important climatic variable. The
month of the calendar year when Ethiopian coffee cherries ripen and are harvested, BIO11
(mean temperature of October,November and December for Ethiopia), has a mean tempera-
ture that contributes roughly 16.1% of the total. This implies that the plant experiences physio-
logical stress as a result of the berry ripening and is unable to withstand extra stress brought on
by high temperatures and a lack of water. The warmest quarter’s(April,June and July for Ethio-
pia) mean temperature (BIO10) contributed 10.1%, the wettest quarter’s(June July and August
fro Ethiopia) precipitation (BIO16) contributed 5.2%, and the annual mean temperature
(BIO1) contributed 10.5%. These results emphasize the significance of adaptation strategies to
lessen the effects of variables related to both temperature and rainfall.
On the other hand, the minimum temperature of the coldest month(December for Ethio-
pia) (BIO6) and precipitation of the wettest month(August for Ethiopia) (BIO13) were less
important for change in coffee suitability in Ethiopia. The remaining bioclimatic variables
have relatively lower influences in determining the fundamental niche of C. arabica. BIO12
(27.4%), followed closely by BIO11(22.3%), is also by far the most significant variable in terms
of permutation importance. Permutation importance is a superior way to indicate the relative
importance of each variable because it is based on the final model.
Studies pointed out that the factors that affect the suitability of coffee, in general, vary with
geographical scale and typicality. Temperature and precipitation factors are almost equal in
Fig 4. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the data.
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Table 2. Contribution of the different bioclimatic variables to the predicted change in climatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia.
Variable Present mean Change by 2080 Percent contribution Permutation importance
BIO12 2750 -123 54.3 27.4
BIO11 16.3 +2.2 16.1 22.3
BIO5 28.8 +1.6 1.7 7.2
BIO15 758.8 -24.9 1.2 15.3
BIO10 23.4 +1.1 10.1 0.1
BIO16 1080.2 -98 5.2 7.5
BIO13 250.7 -19 0.5 4.5
BIO1 20.3 +1.19 10.5 9.7
BIO6 0.23 +2.3 0.4 6.1
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determining coffee’s bioclimatic suitability in Ethiopia [23], confirming findings from other
studies [44]. However, in global-level studies, temperature factors were identified as the pri-
mary determinant factors of Arabica coffee suitability [45]. On the other hand, some national
research elsewhere identified precipitation-based factors are more important than temperature
in determining suitability [17]. Such variations are explained by differences in scale and geog-
raphy, respectively, indicating that the potential for coffee can be influenced by local and
regional factors [23].
Fig 5 shows the importance of each variable in the model. The importance is determined
through how much ’gain’ over a random distribution the variable has and is visualized in the
jackknife test for test gain. The most essential variable under ’only variable’ is BIO12 from
2023 to 2040 in both models. On the other hand, BIO1 has a more significant contribution for
2080 in the CCSM2 model.
Bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica under current and future climate
Period 1: Coffee suitability from 2021–2040. Fig 6 shows the overall current coffee suit-
ability (S1 & S2) in southwest and Southern Ethiopia. The southwestern and southern high-
lands of the country are highly suitable for C. arabica. However, coffee-growing areas in
southeastern and southern Ethiopia will be the most susceptible to future climate change.
As can be seen from Table 3, about 31% and 28% of the country’s area appears to be suitable
for coffee production based on the CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models, respectively. By imple-
menting an ensemble model of three machine learning algorithms, a study by [37] found that
about 27% of Ethiopia’s area is climatically suitable for coffee production by 2040. The margin-
ally suitable classe(S4) will decrease by more than 10% and 8% based on CCSM2 and Had-
GEM2 models, respectively, between 2021 and 2040.
On the other hand, suitability classes ranging from S1 to S3 revealed expected increments
in coverage to a different extent. For example, the moderately suitable class(S3) is expected to
increase to the greatest extent, i.e., 44.20 and 35.80% based on the CCSM2 and HadGEM2
models, respectively. The suitable class(S2) also shows change in 23.23% and 15.00% expansion
Fig 5. Jackknife on area under curve (AUC) for 2040 under CCSM2 (a) and HadGEM2(b) model; for 2080 under CCSM2(c) and HadGEM2 model (d).
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in CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models, respectively. The highly suitable class(S1), however, will be
increased to the lowest extent in both models, which is 5.16% and 6.59% in terms of the
CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models by 2040, respectively.
While the different classes of bioclimatic suitability for arabica coffee production indicated
varied extent and direction of change by 2040, the overall bioclimatic suitability in Ethiopia
Fig 6. Current climate suitability for arabica coffee based on CCSM2 (a) and HadGEM2 (b) models (The shapefile is extracted from https://hub.arcgis.com/
datasets/esri::world-countries-division/explore?location=-1.440657%2C0.000000%2C3.00).
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Table 3. Current (2021) and future (2040) suitability based on CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models.
Suitability Class CCSM2 Change in % HadGEM2 Change in %
2021 2040 2021 2040
Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
)
S1 125,879.78 132,379.37 5.16 114,136.02 121,654.94 6.59
S2 106,596.20 129,228.78 21.23 96,596.20 111,086.53 15.00
S3 31,687.49 45,692.25 44.2 21,687.49 29,449.61 35.8
S4 78,697.76 70,597.27 -10.30 78,697.76 71,948.01 -8.57
Overall 342,860.23 377,897.67 10.19 311,116.47 334,139.09 7.4
% of area 31.00 34.16 3.16 28.13 30.21 2.08
N 763,139.77 728,102.32 -4.59 794,883.53 771,860.91 2.90
Grand Total 1,106,000 1,106,000 1,106,000 1,106,000 -
Note: S1: Highly suitable, S2: Suitable S3: Moderately suitable, S4: Marginally suitable, N: Unsuitable.
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depicted an increasing trend based on both models, which is 10.9% and 7.4% for CCSM2 and
HadGEM2, respectively. This implies that there are some areas where one class would be con-
verted from one class of suitability to another class of bioclimatic suitability. The decrease
(8.57%) in the marginally suitable class(S4) highlights that the marginally suitable areas at a
lower altitudinal range of coffee production could be converted to unsuitable regions. On the
other hand, there is a decrease in unsuitable class(N) in both models, which is 4.59% and
2.90% for CCSM2 and HadGEM2, respectively. This might be due to the conversion of areas
above the higher altitudinal limit to the different suitability classes. This conversion pattern
implies an upward shift in bioclimatic suitability for coffee production, which reaffirms the
study’s findings by [14] stating that coffee production is moving upward along the different
altitudinal zones of the eastern African coffee-producing countries due to climate change.
Period 2: Predicted changes in coffee suitability from 2041 to 2060. Most current grow-
ing areas are expected to increase in terms of the different suitability classes while decreasing
in terms of area coverage of the unsuitable regions in this period (Fig 7). On the other hand,
suitable areas identified before 2040 in southeast and southern Ethiopia are predicted to no
longer be suitable habitats for the survival of Arabica coffee. Ethiopia’s eastern and southeast-
ern coffee-producing areas will be most affected by the changing climate, and the suitable
regions will shrink. In contrast, areas in southwestern and northcentral Ethiopia will benefit
from climate change; future changes in the suitability zones will alter the geographical distribu-
tion of potential optimal sites, increasing the suitability and productivity of these areas.
Fig 7. Predicted climate suitability of arabica coffee (2041–2060) based on CCSM2 (a) and HadGEM2 (b) (The shapefile is extracted from https://hub.arcgis.
com/datasets/esri::world-countries-division/explore?location=-1.440657%2C0.000000%2C3.00).
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Fig 7 also shows a shift in suitability classes to the west, southwest, and north central parts
of Ethiopia, and the habitat is becoming fragmented in the Ethiopian plateau. This indicates
that the impact of climate change on coffee production varies spatially and temporally,
highlighting the differential vulnerability of systems and exposure units. In general, the area of
favorable climatic conditions for growing coffee in Ethiopia will likely be increased, unlike
other regions of coffee production in the world, like South and Central American countries
whose bioclimatic suitability will shrink. Similar studies conducted for coffee and other species
in Ethiopia and globally [16,44] also note a future habitat range reduction and shifts due to the
impact of climate change.
Table 4 indicates that the area of all suitability classes (except S4) is predicted to increase in
different percentages under both CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models by 2060. Significant
increases are expected under the CCSM2 model, i.e., about 25.85%, 21.47%, and 14.10% for
the moderate suitable, suitable, and highly suitable classes, respectively. Moreover, the overall
climate suitability for arabica coffee in Ethiopia will increase by more than 12.06% and 11.31%
under CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models, respectively, during this period (2041–2060). Further-
more, Table 5 depicted that there will be an increase in the percentage of the over suitable area
of the country by 4.07% and 3.42% based on CCSM2 and HadGEM2 in this period (2041–
Table 4. Bioclimatic suitability in (2041) and (2060) based on CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models.
Suitability Class CCSM2 Change in % HadGEM2 Change in %
2040 2060 2040 2060
Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
)
S1 132,379.37 151,047.85 14.10 121,654.94 139,528.08 14.69
S2 129,228.78 156,985.08 21.47 111,086.53 124,136.02 11.74
S3 45,692.25 57,503.84 25.85 29,449.61 26,596.2 -9.68
S4 70,597.27 57,946.23 -17.92 71,948.01 81,687.49 13.53
Overall 377,897.67 423,483.00 12.06 334,139.09 371,947.8 11.31
% of area 34.16 38.23 4.07 30.21 33.63 3.42
N 728,102.32 682,517.00 -10.38 771,860.91 734,052.2 -4.89
Total 1,106,000 1,106,000 1,106,000 1,106,000
Note: S1: Highly suitable, S2: Suitable S3: Moderately suitable, S4: Marginally suitable, N: Unsuitable.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310945.t004
Table 5. Coffee production suitability in 2060 and 2080 based on CCSM2 and HadGEM2.
Suitability Class CCSM2 Change in % HadGEM2 Change in %
2061 2080 2061 2080
Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
) Area (km
2
)
S1 132,379.37 166,056.68 25.44 139,528.08 171,759.07 23.10
S2 129,228.78 185,753.45 43.74 124,136.02 172,549.07 39.00
S3 45,692.25 35,630.82 -22.02 26,596.2 19,415.23 -27.00
S4 70,597.27 61,426.68 -12.99 81,687.49 69,172.97 -15.32
overall 377,897.67 447,015.15 18.29 371,947.8 448,717.83 20.64
% of area 34.16 40.41 6.25 33.63 40.57 6.94
N 728,102.33 658,984.85 -9.49 734,052.2 657,282.17 -10.45
Total 1,106,000 1,106,000 1,106,000 1,106,000
Note: S1: Highly suitable, S2: Suitable S3: Moderately suitable, S4: Marginally suitable, N: Unsuitable.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310945.t005
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Analysis of current and future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
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2060). This indicates that Ethiopia will benefit from climate change regarding climatic suitabil-
ity for coffee production. In other words, there are some areas where one class of suitability
will be changed to another class of bioclimatic suitability.
The marginally suitable class, on the other hand, is predicted to decrease by 17.92% under
the CCSM2 model. The HadGEM2 model predicts that the moderately suitable class(S3) will
be decreased by 9.68% in 2060. In contrast, the suitability (S1), suitable(S2) and the marginally
suitable(S4) classes will be increased by 14.69%, 11.74% and 13.5%, respectively. The change of
S3 and S4 in opposite direction under the two models might be due to variation in the equil-
brium climate sensitivity of the two models. Moreover,the decrease in the marginally suitable
class(S4) in CCSM2 and moderately suitable class(S3) indicates that areas at lower altitudes of
coffee production could be converted to unsuitable areas. On the other hand, there is decrease
in unsuitable class(N) in 10.38% and 4.89% for CCSM2 and HadGEM2, respectively. The
reduction might be due to the conversion of areas above the higher altitudinal limit to the dif-
ferent suitability classes. This suggests an upward shift in bioclimatic suitability for coffee pro-
duction, which corroborates with the study’s findings by [14] stating that coffee production is
moving upward along the different altitudinal zones of the eastern African coffee-producing
countries due to climate change.
Period 3: Predicted changes in coffee suitability from 2061 to 2080. Many studies note
that the mean annual temperature has been projected to go up 1.1–3.1˚C and 1.5–5.1˚C by
2060 and 2090, respectively, in Ethiopia [46], albeit there are marked microclimatic variations.
The predicted increase in temperature will have unprecedented impacts on coffee production
worldwide, particularly on the loss of suitable land for coffee production. Fig 8 shows that the
main coffee-producing areas investigated in Ethiopia (east, south, and southeast coffee-pro-
ducing regions of Ethiopia) would seriously be affected by climate change with a substantial
decline in suitable places.
Table 5 also shows that the area of all suitability classes is predicted to be changed in differ-
ent percentages under both CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models by 2080. During this period, in
both models, there will be substantial decrease in moderately suitable (S3) and marginally suit-
able (S4) classes. The moderately suitable(S3) class will shrink from 45,692.25 km
2
in 2060 to
35,630.82 km2 in 2080- which is a decrease of 22.02% in this period under the CCSM2 model.
Besides, the same model predicts that this class will be decreased from 26,596.2 km
2
in 2060 to
19,415.23 km
2
in 2080; which indicates a decrease of 27.00% in this period.
Moreover, a remarkable decrease in the coverage of the marginally suitable (S4) class will
be observed based on the CCSM2 model. This class will be diminished from 70,597.27km
2
to
61,426.68km
2
in this period (2061–2080), which represents a decrease of 12.99% under the
CCSM2 model. The HadGEM2 model also predicts that the coverage of the S4 suitability class
will decrease from 81,687.49km
2
in 2060 to 69,172.97km
2
in 2080, which reveals a decrease of
15.32% in this study period. The reduction in both classes of bioclimatic suitability under the
two models may correspond to the scenario that climatic suitability for coffee production
shrinks at lower altitudes in many coffee-producing regions of the world.
In contrast, the highly suitable(S1) class will be expanded from 132,379.37 km
2
in 2060 to
166,056.68 km
2
in 2080, an increase of 25.44% under the CCSM2 model. Similarly, this class
revealed a change from 139,528.08 km
2
to 171,759.07 km
2,
which represents an increase of
23.10% under the HadGEM2 model. Moreover, a marked rise in the coverage-of suitable (S2)
class will be observed based on the CCSM2 model. This class will be changed from
129,228.78km
2
to 185,753.45km
2
in this period (2061–2080), representing an increase of
43.74% under the CCSM2 model. Furthermore, the HadGEM2 model predicts that the cover-
age of the S2 suitability class will be increased from 124,136.02 km
2
to 172,549.07 km
2,
which
represents an increase of 39.00% in this study period. The increase in both classes of
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Analysis of current and future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
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bioclimatic suitability under the two models can be attributed to the upward shift of climatic
suitability toward higher altitudes in many coffee-producing regions of the world. This reaf-
firms the finding of [12], which indicated the expansion of coffee cover in Ethiopia, evidently
stating that coffee yield decreased while production increased in the last three decades.
While the different classes of bioclimatic suitability for arabica coffee production indicated
varied extent and direction of change by 2080, the overall bioclimatic suitability in Ethiopia
depicted an increasing trend based on both models, which is 18.29% and 20.64% for CCSM2
and HadGEM2, respectively, between 2061 and 2080. This suggests some areas with one suit-
ability class will be converted to another class of bioclimatic suitability. The decrease in the
marginally suitable class(S4) highlights that the marginally suitable areas in lower altitudinal
parts of coffee production could be converted to unsuitable regions.
On the other hand, there is a decrease in unsuitable class(N) in both models, which is 9.49%
and 10.45% for CCSM2 and HadGEM2, respectively. This decrease might be due to the
expected conversion of areas in the higher altitudinal limit to the different suitability classes.
The upward shift of both the lower and upper limits of the altitudinal range for coffee produc-
tion, in turn, implies that there is an upward shift in bioclimatic suitability for coffee produc-
tion, which reaffirms the findings of the study by [14] stating that coffee production is moving
upward along the different altitudinal zones of the eastern Africa coffee producing countries
due to climate change. The results from a study by [44] also show that the area suitable for cof-
fee in Ethiopia will increase gradually until the 2090s.
Fig 8. Predicted climate suitability for C. arabica in 2061–2080 based on CCSM2 (a) and based on HadGEM2 (b) (The shapefile is extracted from https://hub.
arcgis.com/datasets/esri::world-countries-division/explore?location=-1.440657%2C0.000000%2C3.00).
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310945.g008
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Analysis of current and future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
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Fig 9 depicts the percentage of change in the coverage of the different suitability and the
overall suitability over the study period (2021–280) under the two models. As shown from the
figure, the area of suitability classes is predicted to be impacted significantly under both
CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models by 2080. Substantial increases are expected in the highly suit-
able class under both models: 31.91% and 50.48% under the CCSM2 and HadGEM2 models,
respectively. The climatically suitable class also shows a drastic increase in both models, which
is 74.25% and 78.62% for the CCSM2 and the HadGEM2 models, respectively. Unexpectedly,
the two models predicted the moderately suitable class in the opposite direction: an increase
by the CCSM2 and a decrease by the HadGEM2. In contrast, both models indicated a signifi-
cant decrease in the marginally suitable area. A decrease in the marginally suitable class is
expected with 21.94% and 12.1% under the CCSM2 and HadGEm2 models, respectively.
Under the two models, the overall bioclimatic suitability for coffee production will be
increased by 2080. It will be increased by 30.37% and 44.22% under the CCSM2 and HadGem2
models, respectively. The overall increase in suitability under the two models corresponds to
the finding from a study by [9], which indicated the expansion of coffee cover in Ethiopia, evi-
dently stating that coffee yield decreased. At the same time, production increased in the last
three decades.This finding aligns with other studies on climate change impacts on coffee in the
country, which show that suitability will increase [10,12]. There is a general pattern of increase
in the area suitable for coffee production in Ethiopia.
Discussion
The study highlights that even with limited, sparse, and irregularly sampled data, the MaxEnt
model was able to produce reliable findings, which are visualized using ArcGIS. In fact, for
many species, the sample field data are insufficient to accurately describe the geographic distri-
bution of the species(C.arabica in this study), and digital specimen information is also fre-
quently needed. However, due to a lack of precise latitude and longitude data, the distribution
records of some species need to be verified by using other ways like field observation and Goo-
gle Earth [46]. Climate factors are the only environmental variables utilized in the MaxEnt
model in this study. Nine bioclimatic variables—temperature and precipitation related—were
selected depending on their potential effect on the distribution C. arabica and the multicolli-
nearity that exist between them. However, the distribution of coffee production is influenced
Fig 9. Predicted change in coffee suitability in 2080 based on the two models.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310945.g009
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Analysis of current and future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
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by various factors, including political economy, market forces, and climate. Consequently, the
MaxEnt model illustrates the theoretical maximum probable distribution of species, often
showing areas much larger than those inhabited. Using the models and n the principle of max-
imum entropy to predict coffee distributions, and then generating knowledge about biocli-
matic suitability that would be an input to the efforts in building sustainable coffee livelihood.
The study reveals that variations in temperature-related variables, such as yearly tempera-
ture (BIO1) and annual precipitation affect coffee suitability. In particular, annual precipita-
tion (BIO12) has a greater impact on future changes in the appropriateness of coffee
production. These findings extend that of Chemura et al [12] reaffirming that coffee suitability
is highly influenced by precipitation amount and distribution.This highlights that both precip-
itation and temperature in Ethiopia will likely determine the future bioclimatic suitability of
arabica coffee. The study highlights that there will be an overall change in the suitability of cof-
fee-growing areas both in space and time within Ethiopia in the next decades. These changes
will be mainly positive regarding the predicted climatic suitability for coffee production,
although some suitability classes are expected to be negatively affected under the two models
in the next decades. This means that many areas that are unsuitable for coffee growing in the
present time will become suitable in the future. In some cases, others will be unsuitable in Ethi-
opia. Most notably, important coffee-producing areas, including southeast and eastern coffee-
producing regions of the country, will suffer the most significant decrease in suitability, and
the west, southwest, and central highlands will show a substantial increase in suitability. Some
suitability classes also show change in opposite directions under the two models. Such irregu-
larities might attribute to the difference in the equilibrium cimate sensitivity of the two models
[37].
This study also divulged two different phenomena about the predicted climatic suitability
for arabica coffee production. First, it has been identified that Ethiopia’s overall suitable coffee
areas will increase (as indicated by different suitability classes) in the next decades, indicating
Ethiopia will benefit from future climate change in terms of bioclimatic suitability. Huge areas
of unsuitable areas, particularly at higher altitudes, will be suitable under the two models by
2080. Moreover, the findings have shown that climate change will have contribution in suit-
ability of areas, as indicated by change in the area of the different classes of suitability. New
areas for coffee production will be opened in Ethiopia, particularly in the country’s western,
central, and north-central parts. This finding generally agrees with the findings of [9,15,47],
which stated that the spatial range of coffee production in Ethiopia will be moved up to higher
altitudes in response to the changing climate. Moving up these areas will ensure resilience in
the Ethiopian coffee sector [48,49]. However, the change in the spatial range of coffee produc-
tion due to climate change will increase the pressure on land in the new coffee-producing
areas[23]. This shift requires short and long term adaptation strategies for Ethiopia’s sustain-
able and more climate-resilient coffee production system.
Finally, the main limitation of this work is that it does not include other impacts of climate
change on coffee, including pests, diseases, weeds, and pathogens. Future impacts of pests and
diseases, attribute to climate change, on coffee are projected to be more damaging to Ethiopia’s
coffee yield, quality, and production [50,51]. Farmers in many areas of Ethiopia reported cof-
fee yield losses due to pests’ increased expenses in control of the optimal output. Besides, the
impacts of climate change are projected to cause a decrease in the yields of coffee due to dis-
eases and weed outbreaks [52]. Many other important factors drive change in the spatial range
of coffee production, such as markets, social and cultural preferences, and policies that would
have been incorporated into this study. Such analyses are not included in the current analysis
and remain understudied.
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Analysis of current and future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
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Conclusions
The study came up with three major findings: an increase in overall suitability for coffee pro-
duction in new areas of Ethiopia, change in the areas of the different classes of suitability
under the two models, and an apparent shift in suitability for coffee production in the south-
west and central highlands of Ethiopia, particularly by 2060 and later. Furthermore, although
it is beyond the scope of this study, and research is needed to fully understand the multiple
drivers of change in the spatial range of coffee areas, it appears clear that changes in the politi-
cal economy of coffee sector influence coffee production.
The results of this study have practical implications in Ethiopia and beyond. Some of the
implications might be building a more climate-resilient coffee production system in currently
suitable areas. How can coffee production be sustainable and climate resilient in areas suitable
for coffee production? Agronomic management may be modified in regions that will still be
good for coffee production but will no longer be as suited to mitigate the effects of climate
change; for example, drought-resistant varieties and shade cover are all useful practices that
can be implemented. Moreover, designing strategies to transform into a coffee livelihood in
newly suitable areas is important. However, further studies that consider the political economy
of coffee are needed to substantiate whether coffee production can be undertaken in poten-
tially suitable areas where it is not currently observed. It is necessary to conduct explicit
research on the future distribution of climatically favorable places for coffee production, espe-
cially at local scales, in order to identify and evaluate any potential conflicts and trade-offs with
current land uses. Furthermore, how can coffee farmers be helped in areas where they cannot
shift to other livelihoods? This is another practical implication. Moving on to other livelihoods
in areas that will be unsuitable, we will need to identify alternative livelihoods in future climate
scenarios. These practical implications are in the political economy’s framework and the stake-
holders’ power relations in Ethiopia’s coffee sector and beyond.
The study is based on two GCMs and SSPs4.5. The difference in increase of suitable areas
for coffee production under the two models would seem attributed to difference in equilibrium
climate sensitivity between the two modelsThis difference might have implications on the
results about impacts of climate change and opens other area for further research on the effects
of ECS on the predictive performance of the models.Thus, it is recommended that further
study be conducted on the predicted impact of climate change on C. arabica in Ethiopia based
on a greater number of GCMs and all four shared socioeconomic pathways and future periods.
Future works should also include climate change driven diseases and pests as well as the politi-
cal economy aspects of climate change.
Supporting information
S1 File.
(CSV)
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank ECTDA for providing data on coffee production.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization: Asnake Adane.
Investigation: Asnake Adane.
Methodology: Asnake Adane.
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Analysis of current and future bioclimatic suitability for C. arabica production in Ethiopia
PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310945 October 23, 2024 17 / 20
Software: Asnake Adane.
Supervision: Asnake Adane.
Writing – original draft: Asnake Adane.
Writing – review & editing: Asnake Adane.
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