In a surprising development, the Dominican Coffee Confederation (Concafed) has announced that most of the coffee currently sold in the Dominican Republic is now imported, due to the collapse of domestic coffee production.
The secretary general of Concafed, Carlos Ramirez said that 70% of the 30,000 families that make a living off coffee growing are living in poverty, and of those, 24% in extreme poverty. From a peak production of 1,300,000 quintals or hundred weight (cwt), production is down to 250,000 cwt a year, with an estimated average yield of 10 to 15 lbs per tarea (1 tarea = 629 square meters).
He attributed the collapse of the coffee farms to the coffee rust virus and the lack of attention from the governmental agriculture authorities. He said coffee plantations need to be renovated, but the sector does not have funding or access to technical assistance. As a result, in recent years coffee production has significantly declined.
“To make matters worse, there is a bill in congress that proposes that producers not participate in the drafting of coffee policies,” alerted Ramírez. He said this bill would only make a bad situation worse. Ramirez said the producers have been requesting a meeting with President Medina for months so that small and medium-sized producers can explain the factors that have created this crisis in the coffee sector. He warned that if the President refuses to meet with the growers, Concafed will be obligated to organize protests in front of the Presidential Palace.
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Diario Libre
17 April 2017
