Annual Report 2019

Between 2012 and 2019, World Coffee Research (WCR) built the foundation to execute, for the first time, a shared global R&D agenda for coffee agricultural research. That foundation includes an unprecedented global network of trials beginning to produce meaningful harvests, as well as collaborative engagement with stakeholders across the industry and the world.

Our 2019 Annual Report provides the latest look at what we have produced through this approach, in collaboration with our global network of partners. The 2019 Annual Report highlights several accomplishments of WCR and our collaborators, including:

• Creating and launching two free best practice guides for nurseries and seed producers worldwide
• Completing the first production harvest of experimental F1 hybrids in Central America
• Completing a breakthrough new genome assembly of H. vastatrix
• Expanding our global network of farmer field trials dedicated to improving farmer profitability
  
• Welcoming a new CEO, Jennifer “Vern” Long

The focus of WCR's work is agricultural research, which is a primary driver of improved productivity and profitability, climate resilience and adaptation, and soil health and conservation, among other critical factors. This agricultural R&D, which we conduct together with national coffee institutes and universities around the world, helps ensure that coffee growing remains a profitable livelihood that can meet rising demand while also safeguarding natural resources. Mario Cerutti, Chief Sustainability Officer of WCR donor Lavazza, puts it well: “Farmer-focused agricultural innovation is fundamental. We cannot be a sustainable industry in the long term without it.”