US/FILE: USAID partners with Texas A&M to invest $5 million in fight against coffee rust, a disease plaguing Central America's coffee crop, threatening livelihoods
Record ID:
694928
US/FILE: USAID partners with Texas A&M to invest $5 million in fight against coffee rust, a disease plaguing Central America's coffee crop, threatening livelihoods
- Title: US/FILE: USAID partners with Texas A&M to invest $5 million in fight against coffee rust, a disease plaguing Central America's coffee crop, threatening livelihoods
- Date: 19th May 2014
- Summary: LOS NARANJOS AHUACHAPAN, EL SALVADOR (FILE) (REUTERS) COFFEE PLANTS AFFECTED BY FUNGUS VARIOUS OF COFFEE FARMER INSPECTING PLANTS / SHOWING LEAF AFFECTED BY FUNGUS VARIOUS OF COFFEE PLANTS ACATENANGO, CHIMALTENANGO, GUATEMALA (RECENT) (REUTERS) FRESH PICKED COFFEE BEANS IN BASKET VARIOUS OF COFFEE FARMER COLLECTING COFFEE BEANS ACATENANGO, CHIMALTENANGO, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) MAYNOR VAZQUEZ, COORDINATOR FOR NATIONAL COFFEE ASSOCIATION (ANACAFE), INSPECTING PLANTS AND SHOWING LEAVES WITH FUNGUS COFFEE VALLEY VARIOUS OF WOMEN COLLECTING FRESH COFFEE BEANS FRESH COFFEE BEANS SEEN IN BASKET
- Embargoed: 3rd June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Guatemala
- Country: Guatemala
- Topics: Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA9C3ZHXTWXZDZ1F8AF1RDOJTXZ
- Story Text: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new $5 million dollar investment and partnership with Texas A&M University in combating a fungus that has caused $1 billion in damage to coffee plants across Latin America and the Caribbean on Monday (May 19).
The so-called leaf rust, or roya, is a yellow and orange-colored fungus that has swept coffee fields from Mexico to Peru over the past two years, threatening to stunt production and drive up the price of Latin American roasts.
Rajiv Shah, the Administrator USAID said coffee rust could have a major impact on the region.
"Since 2010, coffee rust, which is a disease, a fungus that attacks the coffee tree, has dramatically reduced coffee output on small farms in Cetral America, and in Latin America," Shah said.
"Coffee rust is affecting, and potentially could affect 500,000 small scale farmers, and push them back under the poverty line. As a result, their children could go hungry, and they would suffer the consequences of losing their main source of livelihood, because this disease can wipe out coffee yields by as much as 15 to 40 percent in a given year," he added.
Especially hard hit have been Central America's arabica coffee plants, which produce high-quality beans used in espressos and gourmet specialty blends that are in growing demand in the United States and elsewhere around the world," he added.
According to USAID, mass job losses could in turn leave displaced coffee workers more susceptible to the illegal drug trade and associated violence in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The partnership will support research to develop rust-resistant coffee varieties and expand the capability of the Latin America's coffee institutions to monitor and respond to outbreaks of the blight.
Sharply falling production yields would likely result in U.S. consumers paying more for their favorite roasts at the local grocery store and coffee shops, officials said.
The program with Texas A&M is part of the Obama administration's Feed the Future initiative, a global anti-hunger and anti-poverty effort that USAID said has reached 7 million small farmers and 12.5 million children.
The latest USAID effort brings to $14 million the sum invested by the agency in the fight against coffee rust, officials said. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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