Colombian farmers switch from coffee to cacao as temperature and prices soar

RISARALDA, Colombia — “Before, anyone who wanted to grow cacao at 1,200 or 1,500 meters [3,900 to 4,900 feet] altitude was considered crazy,” says Orlando Quintero Gonzales, an agronomist in Colombia’s Eje Cafetero, or the Coffee Axis. “Today, with climate change reshaping agricultural landscapes, these altitudes could become optimal for this crop.” As small-scale farmers move their coffee plants to higher elevations to escape rising temperature…