Diversification in coffee genetics, coffee farms and other income sources may be vital to the livelihoods of coffee growers in Central America.

Daily Coffee News reports on the First International Coffee Rust Summit held in Guatemala which discussed diversification amid the threat of coffee leaf rust. The disease is estimated to have caused a $548 million loss in income opportunities for coffee growers and a loss of 441,000 jobs.

It is estimated that 77 per cent of smallholder farmers in Central America rely solely on coffee for income. To reduce their vulnerability to diseases such as coffee leaf rust, farmers must diversity their genetic stock and plant more rust-resistant varieties as well as seeking income from other sources, both on and off the farm.

Hybrid Arabica species are being developed that may be able to resist the disease and still maintain coffee quality but these are still years away from being commercially available on the scale needed now. In the meantime, farmers may have to turn to Robusta alternatives that are rust-resistant but may not have same the quality.

In diversifying, farmers could venture into other activities compatible with coffee-based agroforestry such as bananas, citrus, beekeeping, cacao and spices.

Read the full story: Central America’s Smallholder Farms Too Reliant on Coffee Income