May 2013 C&CI • ICO Report • 19
Leaf rust response seen as a test of ICO’s relevance T
he ICO has been confronted with a crisis that gives it a chance to show that it can be useful to producers, outside its normal work. Not too long ago, there were some, especially in Brazil, who openly questioned the agency’s relevance to producers – one reason why there were doubts at one stage whether the world’s biggest supplier of beans would actually join the new International Coffee Agreement (ICA). Some Brazilian officials still appear to have lingering doubts about the ICO’s value, so they will be especially keen to see whether the agency can rise to the occasion presented to it by the Central American crisis.
When the full ICO met in London on March 4-8 for its latest regular session, its Central American members called on the agency to “show leadership” in supporting national and regional measures already in place to tackle the leaf rust (roya) epidemic – the worst in the region since this pernicious fungus arrived there in 1976, with 53 per cent of the coffee area affected. The governments of the six countries hit by the disease, some of which have declared a “phytosanitary emergency,” have already put in place their own programmes to fight it and, along with Mexico and the Caribbean coffee producers, have now approved a regional plan of action.
The seriousness of the situation for Central American countries was underlined in a joint statement to the ICO’s governing council in which they stressed the importance of coffee to the local economies. There are more than 351,000 coffee growers in the region, they noted, and more than two million people depend on the coffee sector for their livelihood. They forecast that around 437,000 jobs would be lost in rural areas in the 2012/2013 (September-October) crop year because of leaf rust - and “even more for the 2013/2014 crop” – and estimated that 2.5 million bags of potential coffee production had already
The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has responded to an appeal for help from its Central American members as they battle against coffee leaf rust, which is ravaging the region. This was the main development at the agency’s otherwise largely routine recent meeting in London, as Robin Stainer reports
Robério Silva: ICO should act as a conduit for information on combatting roya
Despite the coffee leaf rust outbreak in Central America, prices for Arabica have fallen in anticipation of another huge Brazilian crop
been lost this season. Based on latest ICO data, this points to combined harvest of possibly no more than eight million bags, against 14 million in 2011/2012.
Using best practice In response to the call for help, ICO
members have pledged to give the affected countries, as requested, technical assistance and advice on “best practice”, based on their own experience in dealing with coffee rust. They said they would also provide them with the disease- resistant varieties asked for. The role of the ICO will be to co-ordinate the whole operation by acting “as a conduit”, as the agency’s executive director, Robério Silva, put it.
Administrative matters, such as the draft budget for the 2013/14 (September- October) international coffee year and the Mr Silva’s progress on restructuring his organization and raising income, were discussed at the March meeting, when he reported that new agents had been appointed to find a tenant for its vacant office space. Also on the agenda were preparations for the ICO’s September session in Brazil, development projects, promotion – and statistics, particularly the problem of Vietnam, which has been criticised for failing to provide data on its production (as it should do under the terms of the ICA). This has been creating considerable uncertainty in the market, not unsurprisingly, given the country’s international importance as a supplier.
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