The EU-IICA program PROCAGICA presented its achievements to the Ministers of Agriculture of Central America

San Jose, 22 April 2021 (IICA) - The Central American Program for Integrated Coffee Rust Management (PROCAGICA) benefited more than 7,000 coffee farmers in Central America and the Dominican Republic through the restoration of coffee plantations, crop diversification to increase food security, the strengthening of early warning systems and scientific research to improve the resilience of coffee plants.

Harold Gamboa, Regional Coordinator of PROCAGICA, presented the results to the meeting of ministers of the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC).

Funded by the European Union and implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), PROCAGICA seeks to support small-scale coffee farmers in overcoming coffee leaf rust. The program began in 2016 and is expected to be completed in June of this year.

The program benefited 7,059 producers from 199 organizations in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Of the total number of beneficiaries, 35% are women and around 10% are young people under the age of 30.

A total of 1,100 hectares of coffee were restored through the application of multi-strata agroforestry systems. The first harvest is expected to be ready in 2021.

“We have achieved our programmed objective of increasing the productivity of these coffee plantations by 28% to 42%”, stated Gamboa when addressing the Council.

With respect to the diversification of coffee plantations, the program far exceeded its goal of 1,000 hectares, benefiting a total of 3,720 hectares. By managing existing crops along with new ones, farming families have been able to increase the income they previously earned from coffee alone by 20%.

The program also provided coffee farmers with training in the management of a credit mechanism that is readily available to producers: a fund of approximately USD 2.5 million, of which more than USD 600,000 has been recovered by several of the 150 participating producer organizations, and which can be reinvested in their farms.

Strengthening of early warning systems

Among the program’s achievements, the Regional Coordinator also highlighted the strengthening of national early warning systems for issues that could affect coffee farming, such as coffee leaf rust.

“We sought to increase the resilience of small-scale farmers so that they can overcome these adverse conditions facing coffee farming”, noted Gamboa.

“The first task involved developing a roadmap to strengthen these national systems and standardize them at the regional level; link surveillance/warning systems through the exchange of information; add a forecasting feature; change the focus of existing systems slightly, by adding a social context; and undertake efforts to make surveillance systems more efficient. As part of this process, various actions were carried out, such as the development of IT modules and mobile applications to strengthen the systems in the countries, and capacity building for technical personnel responsible for operating these systems”, he explained.

“We consolidated the regional early warning network currently in operation through the active participation of five countries, which generates regional warning maps that enable us to visualize what is happening with coffee rust based on the phenology of the crop”, he added.

PROCAGICA has also promoted national risk management committees, in which coffee institutions are the main participants.

PROCAGICA’s Regional Coordinator also highlighted the creation of the Pergamino platform, with provides at least seven risk management tools and issues alerts and forecasts that can be personalized for producers. The transfer of this platform to countries participating in PROCAGICA is in its final stages. This initiative is led by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).

Progress in the field of research

In coordination with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) and the Regional Cooperative Program for the Technological Development and Modernization of Coffee Production (PROMECAFE), PROCAGICA has participated in a regional research platform that operates in seven countries and in a network of 224 demonstration plots on farms located in five countries, which are used for training purposes.

The program also contributed to the assessment, monitoring and evaluation of rust races in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

In addition to validating and transferring technologies, the program worked together with technical experts from the region to develop guides and manuals aimed at strengthening extension processes, on topics such as working with farming families, the pruning of coffee plants, the management of F1 coffee hybrids and rust management.

PROCAGICA also collaborated in strengthening the laboratory of the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFÉ), with the aim of consolidating a regional reference unit to conduct molecular analyses for coffee farming.

Gamboa noted that three research studies carried out in Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica had identified the main practices that are contributing to reducing the vulnerability of coffee farms to climate change, namely improvements in coffee shade management, the planting of improved varieties, soil conservation practices, improvements in farm nutrition, water harvesting and irrigation, all of which have been fostered by PROCAGICA since 2017.

In coordination with the Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council, the program has participated actively in the development of regional policies and strategies to reactivate coffee production and foster the sector’s prioritization at the national level and in regional policies related to climate change, the development of rural areas, food security and sustainable agricultural development, among other areas.

Furthermore, the program supported the development of the Regional Strategic Plan for Coffee Farming in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean (MESOCAFÉ Plan).

During the meeting, the ministers approved the Comprehensive Sustainability Program for the Coffee Chain in Mesoamerica and the Dominican Republic, as a mechanism to implement the MESOCAFÉ Plan, which was approved by CAC in October 2019. IICA, SECAC and PROCAGICA have undertaken significant efforts to set this plan in motion.

The Council of Ministers also approved a new cooperation agreement between IICA and CAC, which forms part of the Central American Integration System (SICA).

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Institutional Communication Division

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