Coffee Leaf Rust, It’s Impact on Coffee and What You Can Do To Help

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I find it an interesting cultural phenomenon that coffee, like most things we purchase and use, is consumed without much thought about where it comes from. For example, having 25+ coffee origins to choose from is a pretty amazing thing that the average coffee shopper doesn’t bat an eye at. Coffee comes from somewhere, and not anywhere close to where most of us live.

If you are curious about green coffee and the locations it comes from, you can check out my posts on origins and green coffee.

The reality of coffee is that it is grown in some of the poorest places in the world and being a coffee farmer is often a hard life with many obstacles. Coffee rust (or la roya in spanish speaking countries) is one of those obstacles. It is destroying farms and thus the subsistence of entire families.

Whether it is through an increase of price or a particular coffee not being available anymore, coffee rust effects all specialty coffee drinkers in some shape or form. Further up the coffee chain are many in the coffee industry that have strong relationships with coffee farmers and seeing them lose everything is hard.

Here is a synopsis of what coffee rust is as well as something you can do to help.

What is Coffee Rust?

Coffee leaf rust comes from the parasite fungus Hemileia vastatrix.

An infected coffee tree will start out with some small spots on it’s leaves. As the fungus advances it will form a red-orange (rust colored), powdery coating on the underside of it’s leaves. From there the tree will start to lose it’s infected leaves which results in a dramatic decrease in fruit production and typically removal of the coffee tree.

Hemileia vastatrix is a particularly insidious parasite as it has the ability to wait for conditions to be right before it germinates. Wind can also move the fungus spores long distances which makes containing outbreaks nearly impossible.

Coffea Arabica, the species that produces the best coffee, is the most susceptible of the coffee plants to coffee leaf rust.

Historically, coffee leaf rust has had a devastating impact on coffee. In the mid 1800’s coffee leaf rust obliterated the coffee industry in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and changed its agriculture completely (it is now the fourth largest producer of tea). Around the same time, coffee rust took Java from a coffee powerhouse to a little known origin with small production numbers.

In the 1970’s, the fungus was detected in Brazil where it eventually spread to Central America and made it an all-inclusive, global coffee problem.

Getting Personal- Recent History

In 2012, a coffee leaf rust epidemic swept through Central America and Mexico leaving the entire coffee region reeling. Although there is still much to be learned about coffee rust, it is believed that warmer and wetter conditions than normal contributed to the outbreak.

Coffee production dropped significantly which had a large economical impact on many of these areas. The Guatemala National Coffee Association declared a state of emergency and planned on up to 40 percent losses in the harvest. Many farmers had to destroy their dying trees and start over.

If there is a Central America or Mexico coffee from a particular farm you enjoy that you haven’t seen around in the last year or two, coffee leaf rust may be the reason for it’s absence.

Several years later, the effects of this outbreak are still being felt . It can take 3-5 years for a coffee tree to begin producing fruit. It takes an estimated 1,000 coffee trees for a family to make their living and support themselves.

There are still many small farms without the means of starting up again. Some farmers spent their money on fungicides that were ineffective. Others simply can’t get enough funding together.

Getting Involved: Growers First, 1000trees.coffee and Fresh Ground Roast

At this point, you may be feeling a little bit like you just finished reading “The Grapes of Wrath” but don’t be discouraged. There are organizations and people working on the coffee leaf rust problem including the SCAA. If you want to get involved, there are plenty of ways to help.

One organization that is heavily involved in Central America and Mexico is Growers First. They focus on helping farmers long term in five areas: agriculture, education, economics, health and faith. They are a pretty neat organization. Check out their current list of ongoing projects.

Together with the importer Vournas Coffee Trading, Growers First is trying to plant enough coffee trees for 250 families (250,000 trees) in the growing region of Oaxaca, Mexico.

At first glance, 250,000 trees may seems like a lofty goal. As with all large goals it helps to break it down into smaller steps, one family at a time. Each family needs 1000 trees to continue farming over the next twenty years and each tree cost one dollar (talk about a good deal). Growers First just need 250 organizations to sponsor one family.

I learned about Growers First and this project from Eric, the owner of a Fresh Ground Roast. Fresh Ground Roast only works with importers and farmers that are investing in areas and families long term. Fresh Ground Roast has started raising funds for one family’s 1000 trees. As of this posting they are already over 25 percent.

I’d love for the Brewing Coffee Manually community to contribute. The website for the Fresh Ground Roast’s champaign is 1000trees.coffee. If this is something that strikes a cord with you go by the site and check it out. If you are not in a spot to make a monetary gift but still would like to contribute here are a few ways:

• Share 1000trees.coffee on social media- Many people are unaware that there is a coffee rust problem and might like to contribute to the cause once they learn about it. Can you help find these people by sharing within your network?
• Give out some encouragement– Swing by the Fresh Ground Roast site and drop the team some encouragement. Tell them you appreciate good coffee, responsible sourcing and people who believe in building relationships at origin.
• Don’t forget about it- Next time you read an article about coffee prices rising or feel the urge to scoff at the price of a particular coffee, remember that things aren’t always what they seem. Responsibly sourced coffee is more expensive and some of that money goes towards helping global coffee communities.

If you have any questions about this project or would like to discuss the topic further, feel free to leave a comment below, contact me via the contact page or get in touch with Eric at Fresh Ground Roast. 

{The pictures for this post were supplied by Fresh Ground Roast and are the property of Vournas Coffee Trading. }