Coffee and Climate Change: A Comparative Analysis of Civil Society and Indigenous Politics in Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Coffee is an important commodity not only for the consumer but also for producers. However, climate change is threatening the future of coffee and is driving it out of places where it was historically grown. In Mexico, Chiapas and Oaxaca are two of the largest coffee producing states and have become victim to the impacts of climate change as it is altering the coffee production landscape, and creating an environment that may be unsuitable for coffee in the future. In a comparison of these two states, there are many similarities in terms of the coffee sector and demographics, but upon closer examination, starkly different patterns of civil society and political actions have been taken for climate change. For example, Chiapas passed a climate change law three years before Oaxaca. Focusing specifically on coffee, both local and international organizations in Chiapas are investing in coffee conservation projects, whereas in Oaxaca only international NGOs have been active in the coffee sector. In this comparative analysis of civil society dynamics, coffee, and indigenous politics, I offer plausible explanations for why there is a major difference in political and programmatic action within these two states. I argue that in Chiapas, a state that has been historically more democratic has created a space to engender bottom-up or grass-roots initiatives, giving rise to more progressive and community-based actions on climate change as a whole thus resulting in being more responsive and adaptive actions for the coffee sector.