The coffee industry needs that type of pathological collaboration to shore up vulnerable coffee farming communities and to ensure that all of us java junkies continue to get our morning fix as the planet heats up.

FORBES: Pathological Collaboration: Cure for the Java Jitters?

If successful, the firm believes this type of system could form part of a new approach to sustainable farming, making use of urban greenbelts while helping to reduce the carbon footprint associated with food production -- which accounts for up to 30% of total emissions worldwide, according to a 2008 Greenpeace report.

CNN: Farm in the city could be supermarket of the future