Coping with drought: Lessons learned from robusta coffee growers in Vietnam

An improved understanding of the benefits and uptake of drought mitigation strategies under a changing climate is critical to ensure effective strategies are developed. Here, using 10 years (2008–2017) of farm data from 558 farmers distributed across the major robusta coffee-producing provinces in Vietnam, we analysed coffee farmers’ perceptions on drought and its impacts; we then quantified the impacts of drought on yield and farm profit, and finally, assessed the effectiveness of mitigation strategies. While drought reduced robusta coffee yield by 6.5% on average across all provinces, the impacts on gross margins were noticeable, with an average 22% decline from levels achieved in average-rainfall-condition years. Yield reductions from drought were consistent with farmers’ perceptions, being on average − 9.6%. With irrigation being typical in coffee farming in Vietnam, the majority of surveyed farmers (58%) adopted mulching in drought years and had a 10.2% increase in economic benefits compared to their counterparts who did not.