Guatemala and coffee state of emergency

There has been a rather worrying story in the news of late.

Guatemala, it appears, is having a tough time in terms of its coffee industry.

And the problem?

There is a fungus which is rampant in Central America which is affecting the coffee crops.

It is believed to be adversely affecting a staggering 70% of the Guatemalan crop.

So much so, in fact, that the president has declared the matter to be a national emergency.

The rogue fungus is called coffee rust. It affects coffee plants by withering the leaves, with devastating consequences.

It is also rife in other countries in Central America such as Costa Rica and Panama.

So what can be done to help coffee farmers in order that they may combat the disease, protecting their livelihoods and the national coffee industry?

Apparently, over $14 million has been released by the government to the coffee farmers.

The idea is that this money is to be used to purchase pesticides which will stop the disease from spreading.

It is also to educate farmers (some 60,000 small coffee farmers are expected to benefit from these governmental funds) in order that they may learn how to fight the disease.

It is hoped that by taking these measures, the 2013-2014 crop will not be decimated.

Without such help, it has been suggested that coffee output could be reduced by as much as 40%.

Photo: Chensiyuan