New paper charts the future of robusta coffee breeding
Defines a roadmap for accelerating genetic improvement to support global coffee supplies
A new peer-reviewed paper offers the most comprehensive review to date of robusta coffee breeding and lays out a clear roadmap for accelerating genetic improvement to support long-term global supply.
Published in Frontiers in Plant Science, the review examines more than a century of breeding efforts in Coffea canephora (robusta), identifying what has worked, where progress has stalled, and how modern breeding tools can be integrated into breeding processes to dramatically increase impact in the decades ahead. As robusta now accounts for roughly 40% of global coffee production and underpins value chains in many countries, improving its productivity, resilience, and quality is increasingly critical for the coffee industry and farmer livelihoods. The paper lays bare that breeding timelines measured in decades are incompatible with a climate trajectory that is changing where and how coffee can be grown within a single farmer’s lifetime.
The paper highlights key constraints that have historically slowed robusta improvement, including fragmented breeding efforts, limited use and sharing of genetic resources, and long breeding cycles. At the same time, it points to powerful opportunities: coordinated international breeding networks, improved phenotyping, and the integration of modern tools to deliver faster, more reliable genetic gains. It also highlights the value of demand-led breeding guided by clear target product profiles.
Importantly, the authors emphasize that breeding progress is not just a scientific challenge, but a system challenge—one that requires sustained investment, stronger collaboration than ever before, and clear uptake pathways that enable farmers to access new varieties quickly and at scale. The review underscores breeding as one of the most effective long-term tools the industry has to prioritize in order to reduce risk and protect future production in the face of climate change.
The paper was led by robusta breeder Dr. Robert Kawuki of World Coffee Research, which also leads the Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network. In 2025, the network expanded to include robusta in its breeding portfolio in partnership with Vietnam, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Rwanda, and Uganda. Together, these six countries export 64% of the world’s robusta. This expansion reflects a key theme of the paper—that in order for canephora to shoulder a greater share of future coffee supply, breeding must be funded and organized as shared global infrastructure—part of the coffee industry’s “operating system.”
“The collaboration behind this paper mirrors the collaboration required to improve robusta at scale,” says Kawuki. “By working closely with partners to analyze constraints and solutions, we strengthened the foundation of the Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network—creating clearer pathways for shared data, coordinated breeding, and faster delivery of improved varieties,” says Kawuki.
Robusta breeders from around the world gather for collaborative discussion of shared global robusta breeding priorities Colombia, November 2025.
The paper’s 14 co-authors represent research institutions from 8 breeding programs on 3 continents, highlighting the global collaboration needed to tackle shared challenges in coffee production.
The papers coauthors include:
- Abraham Akpertey, Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, New Tafo-Akim, Ghana
- Jeena Devasia and B.R. Shivalingu, Central Coffee Research Institute, Coffee Research Station, Karnataka, India
- Miftahur Rizqi Akbar and Ari Wibowo, Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI), East Java, Indonesia
- Godfrey Sseremba, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Entebbe, Uganda
- Alexsandro Teixeira and Rodrigo Barros Rocha, Embrapa Cafe, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Brasilia, and Institute of Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension of Espirito Santo (INCAPER), Vitoria, Brazil
- Phan Viet Ha, Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (WASI), Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam
- Robert Kawuki, Santos Barrera, Jorge Berny Mier y Teran, Kraig Kraft, and Tania Humphrey, World Coffee Research
The paper reinforces a central message for the industry: strategic, coordinated investment in robusta breeding today is essential to secure sustainable coffee supply tomorrow.