Increased funding for Rio de Janeiro State’s coffee industry

The coffee farming industry in Brazil is huge. Roughly a third of the world’s coffee supply comes from this great and vast South American country and sizeable portions of the country is given over to the bean, with the majority of those farms and plantations found in the south-east regions.

Yet despite being one of Brazil’s most populous regions, the state of Rio de Janeiro falls well behind its neighbours of Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Espirito Santo in the coffee growing stakes.

Well, they’re fighting back.

Looking to re-establish itself as a leading producer, Rio Times Online has said that a total of R$1.7 million ($545,000) has been sourced and will go towards the grading, sorting and processing of beans. The goal is to provide farmers with the funds and equipment necessary to keep production within the state – previously some farmers had to travel outside the state borders to access specialist facilities.

Some of the funds have come from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and a body called the Sustainable Rural Development Strategy.

There will be an official unveiling later this week in the small town of Varre-Saie where the Secretary of Agriculture, Christino Auero, will be present to help open a brand new unit for the Coopercanol (Coffee Growers Cooperative of the Northwest Fluminense) group.

According to information, the amount of coffee that is produced from this part of Brazil comes in at roughly 200,000 bags, but as we mentioned many of it moves onto different states and regions to be fully processed and sold.

Hopefully this investment will see a lot more coffee stay in its home state before it is eventually sold and shipped, something which can only benefit the local region and communities. Brazil’s coffee industry is expected to grow by 2% this year, a welcome figure considering that for the past couple of years production has been facing a number of challenges such as pest infestations and adverse climatic conditions.