Coffee farmers innovate to adapt to climate change

Valverde at his coffee plantation in Naranjo, Alajuela province, Costa Rica. Photo: AFP

Costa Rican coffee farmers were once blessed with abundant rains but as precipitation grows fickle they are being forced to innovate to keep producing one of the world's favourite brews.

The country's lush Central Valley has long boasted the ideal climate conditions for growing the arabica coffee beans, its most emblematic export – but farmers report this is rapidly changing.