USAID Funds $5M to Fight Costly Coffee Rust

Agency for International Development (USAID) unveiled a $5 million partnership with Texas A&M University’s World Coffee Research to eliminate coffee rust , a fungal plant disease that’s caused over $1 billion economic damages throughout Latin America and the Caribbean since 2012. This partnership will tap innovative solutions to address the immediate and long-term impacts of coffee rust. Help this key agriculture sector rebound.” Coffee rust most affects Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee), which is the the bean most often used in higher-quality blends and makes up about 75 to 80 percent of the world’s coffee , per to the Coffee Research Institute.

Coffee rust as well poses a threat to Coffea canephora (robusta coffee), which is the second of the most widely used commercial coffee strains . And it isn’t just affecting coffee-connoisseurs wallets.

Going to the USAID, the disease could affect the crops of about 500,000 farmers. Some estimates suggest that there will be a 15-40% fall in coffee production, but the USAID aid is intended to combat the declining production by financing research on rust-resistant coffee varieties, address the shortage of disease-resistant coffee seedlings, and grow the capability of the region’s coffee institutions to monitor and respond to coffee rust.

Per to the USAID, the the authorities’s funding to fight coffee rust totals $14 million. Working with organizations such as the World Coffee Research, Feed the Future , and others, USAID seeks to fight coffee rust not only to make sure you have a cup of joe, but in addition to make sure those 500,000 coffee producers aren’t left with grinds.