Category: Policy

334. The Colombia cultivar question: what we can learn

2013-02-05 Comments Off on 334. The Colombia cultivar question: what we can learn

Over the past two weeks I have written about the coffee leaf rust epidemic that has decimated Colombia’s coffee production, and the response of the country’s coffee authorities, which includes financial incentives for farmers to plant the disease-resistant Castillo cultivar. I have shared the results of a survey we conducted that may bring something novel […]

332. Credit for coffee in Colombia

2013-01-29 Comments Off on 332. Credit for coffee in Colombia

Colombia’s campaign to replace its traditional coffee varieties with the new, disease-resistant Castillo cultivar has been the topic of much conversation in recent years in specialty coffee circles.  What few people understand, however, is that Colombia is making coffee farmers an offer that the poorest among them can’t afford to refuse — free money to […]

331. Farmer perspectives on Castillo

2013-01-28 Comments Off on 331. Farmer perspectives on Castillo

The Castillo cultivar has been the subject of considerable discussion and no small amount of controversy in the marketplace in recent years.  At the risk of oversimplification, the debate has been framed by two positions: that of representatives of Colombia’s Federación Nacional de Cafeteros, who insist that Castillo will thrive in the specialty market because […]

330. The origins of the Castillo cultivar

2013-01-25 Comments Off on 330. The origins of the Castillo cultivar

Colombia’s Federación Nacional de Cafeteros is a most remarkable institution.  Among the many achievements of which the FNC is justifiably proud is its long tradition of coffee research.  The Federation’s first annual budget, way back in 1927, included funding for research into coffee production and disease.  In 1938, Colombia established a National Coffee Research Center, […]

329. Colombia and coffee leaf rust

2013-01-23 Comments Off on 329. Colombia and coffee leaf rust

At a meeting late last year with the Colombia’s National Coffee Growers Federation, I noticed a calendar on the wall declaring November “The Month of Coffee Leaf Rust Control” in Colombia.  What is coffee leaf rust and why it is the cause of so much concern in Colombia?

328. Colombia’s OTHER eradication campaign

2013-01-21 Comments Off on 328. Colombia’s OTHER eradication campaign

Over the past decade, the U.S. government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Colombia eradicate coca production.  The campaign has eliminated millions of acres of coca and been the source of considerable debate.  Opponents charge that aerial spraying — a controversial approach to eradication employed only in Colombia — has displaced farmers, […]

306. The water interviews: Nicaragua

2012-10-01 Comments Off on 306. The water interviews: Nicaragua

My colleague Jefferson Shriver is an advisor on issues of agroenterprise and climate change for CRS programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.  He is based in Nicaragua, where he has lived and worked on-and-off for the better part of 20 years.  Over that time, he has collaborated with many of the country’s leading coffee […]

304. The water interviews: Blue Harvest

2012-09-17 Comments Off on 304. The water interviews: Blue Harvest

My first job with CRS back in 2002 was a one-year fellowship.  I was one of 15 fellows who were assigned to different countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  I didn’t know it at the time, but my assignment to the Philippines was a lucky break: there I worked with Paul Hicks, who has […]

298. What will it take for coffee farmers to make processing operations “bluer”?

2012-09-03 Comments Off on 298. What will it take for coffee farmers to make processing operations “bluer”?

There are many water-efficient technologies currently in use by farmers selling their coffee into specialty markets.  And there are some good reasons why there is still a relatively modest embrace of those technologies.  What will it take for more farmers to “blue” their post-harvest processes?