News and knowledge

Since 2019, World Coffee Research (WCR) has been a partner in the Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee & Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) program, which works with coffee and cacao farmers in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Peru to increase their profitability. The program is financed through the United States Department of Agriculture and implemented by TechnoServe.

WCR is accelerating the creation of coffee varieties to meet the challenges of the 21st century through the launch of a new Latin American Breeding Hub in Honduras.

Watch the latest "WCR Presents" webinar, with climate and agriculture expert Dr. Walter E. Baethgen of Columbia University's Earth Institute.

At World Coffee Research, our team in Latin America has done our best to adapt to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, starting with instituting a no-travel policy in March as the effects of the pandemic started to be felt globally. With our team unable to visit farmers in person, we shifted largely to digital conversations. We hold monthly check-ins via Zoom, WhatsApp, or email with all stakeholders to monitor the status of trials, relying on video and/or photographs to gauge the progress of plants in farmer field trials.

By early April, the effects of COVID-19 had started to be felt across the coffee value chain, and Kenya’s government leaders instituted tough movement restrictions to curb the spread of the pandemic. Movement of agricultural inputs to growing areas and green beans to the market were disrupted, causing unanticipated delays. Extension staff from various organizations and institutions could no longer travel to coffee-growing regions, leaving coffee farmers feeling abandoned.