The Coffee Crisis: Mitigation and Innovation
Everybody loves coffee. At least, that’s how it seems. Nearly 83% of adults in the United States drink coffee, according to a National Coffee Association survey. In Honduras alone, the coffee sector is one of the region’s largest rural employers, with more than 96,000 local coffee producers and a million workers. However, the growers and retailers are still struggling to meet demand, bringing in some of the worst harvests Central America has seen in years. Amid high temperatures and inconsistent rain patterns, the Arabica coffee bean is more susceptible to disease, infestation and abandonment than ever. With their plants plagued by leaf rust fungus and Antestia stinkbugs (which combined roughly costs $750 million in annual damages), farmers from Central America are relinquishing their livelihoods to find work elsewhere.