This post is also available in: Spanish
Coffee time at INESIN, Rick Block on the far right
By Rick Block is an agronomist working with MCC Mexico partner, INESIN, in Chiapas Mexico. He describes the situation of small farmers losing 75% of their coffee plants in a plague of Coffee Rust that is threatening the Americas.
Coffee time. Its a part of the day for so many worldwide. The days that my work keeps me in the office at INESIN (Institute for Intercultural Study and Research) are usually punctuated with the toll of a bell at 11:30 am and the rich smell of café, this word which in my mind seems to exude a better flavor than the word coffee. Our routine at INESIN consists of approximately 30 minutes (sometimes longer!) together at the kitchen table, enjoying café, pan (bread), galletas (cookies), and fruta (yes, fruit).
Coffee plants
I think all folks in Chiapas know that the café produced here in-state is the best in the world! At INESIN we would not dream of purchasing cafe from a cooperative that is not Chiapanecan, as a gesture of support for local producers. And while we are very much aware of the global dynamics that exist within the café economy, I wonder how many of us at INESIN, until recently, could not sleep at night due to the worries of what local producers are now facing……..
“La Roya” – A Fungus spreading in the Americas
Coffee leaves with La Roya, Coffee Rust
Its called “La Roya” in Spanish. It is a coffee rust (or fungus) that over decades has migrated to the Americas from Africa, via Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and so on. And it is devastating coffee plantations in South and Central America and Mexico like never before. The link below is a CBC story on the current spread and impact of this fungus. Articles like these can be helpful for those who live outside of coffee-producing regions, at the least as a means to understand a possible rise in the price of coffee. Better, however, articles may also provide the opportunity for the reader to gain a glimpse into the life of a producer, who is affected so much more than simply another 25 cents a cup…..
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/04/17/f-roya-coffee-fungus-reddekopp.
INESIN’s work with community groups includes a region where coffee production is the primary source of income to the family economy. I have the pleasure of travelling to this area every 2 months to support the group, provide workshops, and visit individual families for encouragement and assessment. Our work is mostly focused on home-based gardens and improving family diets, but last November the call came from the group…”would INESIN be willing to help us with our coffee situation?” The three communities in this region where we work receive virtually no technical agronomic support by government, so the groups felt very vulnerable in having few-to-no tools in addressing the situation.
Failed Attempts to Stop the Fungas
Workshop on organic treatments of Roya
Via a friendship and some organizational ties, we were able to work with a local agricultural technician to provide the groups with some technical workshops on Integrated Coffee Management, and specifically, Organic Treatments to Coffee Rust (Roya). This occurred in January, when it still appeared possible to combat the rust as it was advancing. In March it looked worse, but the producers were still waiting to see if the treatments would have an affect.
Last week when I was there, farmers were resigned that a lot of work and very little profit is on the horizon for the next several years, as plantations must be renewed. This can sound similar to many stories we hear in Canada/USA/EU where producers lose their harvests due to natural, unavoidable causes….YET a critical difference is that for most every small producer in Latin America (and there are millions in this category) there are no safety nets, no crop insurance, and as it became very real for me this past week, no other opportunities for work close to home (several people have already left for cities within Mexico in search of work).
But the strength of Roya this year has surprised many, and in Buena Vista it is estimated that about 75% of coffee trees in very poor condition – most producers here have tough choices and years ahead as they renew their plantations.
Think about Small-scale Producers when you have a coffee
So it really is La Hora de Café (the Hour of Coffee). I will still cherish my cafe, perhaps even more in the coming months/years. My consumer choice has a very direct impact on who is being supported, and what management practices are being applied. The café we savour at INESIN now seems to have more face, more voice, and more touch. I pray and trust that God’s creation has been instilled with a resilience that will overcome this loss, that the hillsides will again reflect the sheen of coffee’s green, and that coffee-producing families will make it through, via hope, resolve, and our solidarity.
I was working in western Honduras w/ MCC in 4 communities that also rely on coffee for their main income who have also been affected by the plague. Even though the big landowners are the ones who lament the price of coffee or re-planting large tracts of land, it is the effect on the day-laborers that have no where else to go. Always harder when you have names and face to put with those “laborers.”
Hi Charissa, thanks for sharing a bit about your experience in Honduras. I work exclusively with small-holder producers, but I can image that whe production bottoms out, wealthy planation owners do take a hit, BUT, the hardest hit in that scenario is the day-worker, who may not have many (or any) other options. The markets on these global commodities are complex, and at times so unforgiving.
Thanks much for this, Rick. I wonder if Level Ground http://www.levelground.com/about/ producers have been facing similar struggles in Colombia and Bolivia.
Hi Tim, thanks for replying to the blog. I remember enjoying a good cup ofr Chiapanecan coffee with you here in San Cristobal! As for this coffee “rust” in Colombia and Bolivia, I am not too sure, at INESIN we seem to have naturally more connections with org’s and news outlets in Central America. But hopefully Level Ground is working in efforts to strengthen practices that prevent large-scale presence of disease. Take care,
Rick
Thanks Rick: Yes, good memories from last summer. We were quite envious of David and Damaris, getting another opportunity recently to be in San Cristobal….
I sent the folks at Level Ground your blog post. They responded:
“Thank you for the link. That’s very interesting… and unfortunate. We were just in Colombia a few weeks ago, and I didn’t see or hear much about roya while we were down there. I saw a few cases of another problem, broca, which is a boring beetle. We were only in one region of Colombia, however. I am not sure how things are in other regions and how things are in the other countries we purchase from. Hopefully Hugo or Stacey will be able to provide a better answer.”
Also producers for Equal Exchange?
Hi Mary, thank you for your reply, although I am now the one with a question…can you elaborate on what Equal Exchange is?
This is interesting – lately Burundian farmers have been giving thanks for the increase in coffee prices. While higher coffee prices are helping small farmers here, I am less enthousiastic to learn that the global price increase comes at the expense of others. It’s hard to reconcile their prayers of thanks with the probable prayers of lament of farmers in another part of the world. My first thoughts weren’ so generous. I though selfishly that Burundian farmers deserve the higher prices more since they are so much poorer. It goes to show how much harder it can be to extend compassion beyond one’s current context to somewhere farther afield.
Burundian coffee production is prodimently small producers/subsistence farmers, and until recently the coffee prices were controlled by the state, but now small producers are more vulnerable to the international market through world bank mandated privitisation of the industry (http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13246&LangID=E). While privitisation seems good initially to many here, since the global coffee price is rising so they are getting higher prices for their crops in the short term, it is sad to think that privitisation leaves them more vulnerable if they were to experience such a disease here, and to significant price decreases when more farmers in central america start to do better again (though with manioc and banana and taro diseases already here maybe just maybe coffee diseases will pass this region by).
Perhaps it is time to question coffee as a commodity more generally. Here’s an anecdote I heard from a Burundian priest who had recently returned after years of studies to complete his PhD in Rome: On arriving at his parent’s home, one of the first things he did was pull out all of their coffee (an act that was illegal at the time because of state regulations) and plant beans that at least they would be able to eat. He couldn’t reconcile the fact that Burundian producers received less than 40 cents per kilo, when a kilo of coffee sold in Italy for 15 Euro. He sees coffee addiction across the world as creating a market for a crop that depends on inequality in order to be marketable, and as a colonial import to Burundi meant to create a cash economy and revenue for colonial powers. I’m not sure yet. I still really enjoy local coffee every morning, but it is tasting more and more bitter.
Thankyou yweima for your response and reflection on the coffee situation in the African context (we typically receive most responses from within Latin America). I commented to another response above that these global commodity markets can be very unforgiving and its producers susceptible to boom and bust cycles. Without a diversified production approach, small-holders face high risks – at times due to low production (i.e. disease), or simply due to over-production and a flooded market. Growing up in a farming community on the Canadian prairies we also knew the subtle satisfaction of hearing about drought in Russia or other parts of the world, which indicated that wheat prices would rise….
Here in Chiapas the producers that are not part of a cooperative typically see less return on their product, for having to pay “coyotes” to transport their product to a market outlet. I see the “Fair Trade” measures as a step in the right direction (a far cry from the price gap you speak of between Burundi and the Italian market!), but one that can still be improved – maybe that’ll be another blog post someday.
Cheers,