Yahoo TV

STORY: Indonesian farmer, Taupik Rismawan, is worried about his coffee crop.

He owns a plantation in Sumedang about 124 miles from the capital Jakarta.

After losing half of his harvest due to excessive rainfall, he's now facing another weather-induced problem - the soil may soon be bone dry because of drought caused by El Nino.

The weather phenomenon typically brings prolonged hot and dry weather to the tropical country.

“What we are afraid of is not the decline of coffee production during the long dry season, we are afraid it will kill the trees and if that happens we would have to wait another four years for them to grow again. We will try to come up with an irrigation plan.”

Excessive rains have already dragged down Indonesia's coffee output to its lowest level in more than a decade.

The country is the world's fourth largest coffee grower so any dent in its harvest could further drive up the global prices.

In 2023, the cost of coffee climbed more than 40% - hitting a record high in June.

Indonesia's weather agency BMKG says El Nino is already affecting more than two-thirds of the country, including the coffee producing regions of Java and parts of Sumatra.

Cornelius Swangga is the owner of Kopikina coffee roaster:

“We are now in a cautious situation because there's a possibility that within the period of August to October, coffee will start to become rare in Indonesia, according to our historical data, which of course will cause prices to increase.”

Almost all of Indonesia's coffee plantations are tended by smallholder farmers, like Rismawan.

They use traditional planting methods and limited fertilizer.

Many coffee trees are old, with some planted more than two decades ago.

The government has been pushing farmers to replant trees, including by providing coffee seedlings, subsidizing fertilizers, and extending cheap loans.

However, just 2% of the total coffee plantation area has been replanted since 2018, official data showed.