It's become a familiar talking point in coffee circles: as climate change squeezes arabica's already-narrow growing window, Coffea canephora — robusta — stands ready as a hardy, heat-tolerant alternative. Farmers have been encouraged to diversify into robusta. Development programs have leaned on the premise. The story made intuitive sense. There's just one problem: new research suggests it may not be true.
The Robusta Climate Myth: New Research Challenges Coffee's Supposed Backup Plan
For years, the specialty coffee world has treated Robusta as a climate-resilient fallback — but a new study suggests that assumption may be dangerously wrong. Here's what the research means for the future of coffee farming.
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