Perceptions of organic coffee producers from the Tosepan Titataniske cooperative on climate change, adaptation challenges and adaptation ideas in the Sierra Norte of Puebla, Mexico

Coffee producers' local knowledge offers contextual insights that scientific data may overlook, ensuring adaptation measures are practical, culturally appropriate and widely adopted. Recent studies suggest that smallholder farmers' perceptions, rather than precise meteorological data, strongly influence their adaptation to climate change (CC). This study compares perceptions of climate trends among organic coffee producers affiliated with the Tosepan Titataniske cooperative in the Sierra Norte of Puebla (SNP), Mexico, while highlighting adaptation challenges and perspectives. Temperature trends were analysed over 32 years (1992–2023) and precipitation over 63 years (1963–2023) using five meteorological stations. A severity index (SI) was computed to measure perceptions of CC, and the Mann–Kendall test was applied to identify trends. Perceptions, adaptation ideas and challenges from 93 producers were assessed through surveys, participatory mapping (PM), group discussions (GD) and semi-structured interviews (SEI). Results showed rising annual and monthly temperatures, while rainfall displayed mixed trends. Findings aligned with farmers' perceptions in the SI and PM, confirming warming but showing neutrality regarding rainfall. The SI, GD and SEI revealed altitude-specific effects on coffee crops. Key challenges include declining production, pest outbreaks, ageing farmers and labour shortages. Farmers' proposals focus on agroforestry, variety changes and strengthening community networks.