NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, June 20, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Comunicado de prensa en español abajo)

Affected Latin American and Caribbean farmers to receive financial support and training to stabilize coffee industry

WASHINGTON, DC (June 19, 2014)— The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., Cooperative Coffees, Starbucks and Root Capital, today launched the Coffee Farmer Resilience Fund to leverage $23 million in financial assistance for more than 40,000 coffee farmers combatting the devastating coffee rust outbreak in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 2012, coffee rust has affected more than two million people in Latin America, causing an estimated $1 billion in economic damages which could lead to 500,000 job losses.

“This dynamic partnership will leverage our joint expertise, along with that of the private sector, to help tens of thousands of rural farmers boost their incomes and rise out of poverty,” said USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah. “Through innovative approaches to farming, we can help these men and women combat the worst outbreak of coffee rust in Latin American history – and lay the foundation for broad-based economic growth for generations to come.”

The Fund will:

• Leverage $8 million in funds from USAID and partners, including Keurig Green Mountain, Cooperative Coffees, and Root Capital, to provide on-farm, agronomic trainings on climate-smart, resilient practices to coffee farmers and farmer organizations in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Peru.

• Unlock $15 million in investment capital from Root Capital, including $3 million in new investment from Starbucks, through a USAID credit enhancement for long-term financing for rehabilitation of disease-affected fields and short-term financing to stabilize coffee supply chains in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• Enable participating coffee roasters to negotiate the cost of combatting coffee rust into their purchase contracts with farmer organizations to ensure sustainable solutions rather than one-time charitable gifts. The pooled funds will provide technical assistance, leading to sustainable supply chains and increased farmer incomes in the short and long term.

Additional coffee buyers and roasters are expected to join the Fund over the next two growing seasons.

“Coffee leaf rust is a critical industry issue that requires a collective approach,” said Lindsey Bolger, vice president for coffee sourcing excellence at Keurig Green Mountain. “We are proud to partner with USAID, Root Capital, and fellow roasters on this expansion of the Coffee Farmer Resilience Initiative, which will unlock new resources for coffee farmers for agronomic training, rust prevention, and other resiliency investments that are necessary to combat this crisis affecting those growing the high-quality coffee our consumers enjoy.”

Overall, USAID is investing $18.5 million to combat coffee rust in Latin America and the Caribbean and leveraging a total of $26 million in private sector investment. This includes the recently announced partnership with the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University to support research that will help establish a more resilient and higher-quality regional coffee sector.

The new Fund builds off of Root Capital’s existing Coffee Farmer Resilience Initiative, which leverages funding from a variety of partners including the Inter-American Development Bank.