Plague strikes coffee crops in Central America

Coffee growers in Central America and southern Mexico are experiencing a widespread plague of "rust" produced by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix. In Costa Rica, authorities expect 10,000 growers to be affected in a period estimated to last two to three years. In Guatemala, where a majority of growers are small operations, the situation is much worse. Of the 270,000 hectares planted with coffee, approximately 193,000 hectares (around 70 percent) are affected by the fungus. The situation is expected to last three to five years and affect over 100,000 people.

Nils Leporowski, President of the National Coffee Association of Guatemala (ANACAFE), noted that, though the rust has affected crops throughout the region previously, climate change has created a favorable environment for the offending fungus. "In the last three years the climatic conditions have favored the propagation of the fungus, due to a combination of higher temperatures and rains."

Guatemala's Agriculture Minister Elmer Lopez says the 2012-13 coffee harvest (10/12-9/13) is expected to shrink 15 percent on the year, while the next year's harvest could lose as much as 40 percent.

Growers in the region will not benefit from an increase in prices that might be expected to accompany such declines in production, however. Coffee prices have only "limited potential" for decline this year, according to the International Coffee Organization. While Central American crops have been hit hard, Brazil and Colombia (which is recovering from its own coffee pest outbreak) are reporting bumper crops

Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica have all declared states of emergency to allow government dollars to flow to affected areas. Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina ordered about $10 million in federal funds be made available to fight the blight.