history of Brazil
Image source: Royal Coffee
Brazil is the largest coffee producing country in the world (22.5 million bags a year) and makes up over one-third of the world’s coffee supply. Coffee came to Brazil in 1727 from French Guinea and spread to the southeastern states, coinciding with the spread of slavery.
During the Atlantic slave trade era, Brazil imported more enslaved Africans than any other country. Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar economy in Brazil, and sugar was the primary export from 1600 to 1650. Later, 1.7 million enslaved people were captured and taken to Brazil from Africa between 1700 and 1800, and the rise of the coffee industry in the 1830s further expanded the Atlantic slave trade.
Along with being the largest importer of slavery, Brazil was also the last country in the Western world to abolish the enslavement of human beings in 1888.
It is estimated that 45% of the total number of enslaved people trafficked from Africa to the Americas was to Brazil. Of the 12.5 million Africans who were kidnapped and enslaved, only 10.7 million would survive the journey.
One of the reasons coffee production grew so quickly in Brazil is because the temperature, rainfall, and the distinct dry season of Brazil are prime conditions for coffee growth and cultivation flourished. Currently, Brazil’s ideal coffee-growing climate is at risk, and even slight temperature changes can have drastic consequences. Scientists have predicted that by 2050, more than half of the land used to grow coffee will no longer be suitable for coffee cultivation in Brazil. As a result of the climate crisis, there will be lower quality of coffee at a higher price of product. It is small-scale farmers who will suffer the most from the climate crisis as they are the most financially reliant on their coffee sales.
Brazil produces both Robusta and Arabica coffee, and the global demand for coffee led to the initial economic expansion and industrialization of Brazil. Today, the United States and Germany serve as Brazil’s main sources of coffee trade; these economies high demand for this cheap coffee ultimately led Brazil to corner the U.S. and German markets. Brazil is one of the top ten trading partners to the United States.
While Brazil’s economy relies heavily on foreign trade, a significant portion of the coffee produced remains in Brazil, the second largest coffee-consuming country globally.
