Who will tackle coffee’s equivalent of COVID?Coffee companies depend on farmers in primarily low- and middle-income countries to produce consistent, quality coffee. Farmers, in turn, depend on the research capacity of public research institutes in their countries to generate new technologies to combat a myriad of on-going challenges, notably pests, disease, and climate change. While the world mobilized science to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and benefited from strong scientific research capacity to bring us a vaccine faster than any time in history, agricultural research capacity in low and middle income countries is simply not adequately resourced for the current challenges–much less the kind of pandemic that ended the Sri Lankan coffee industry in the 1880s. If the industry wants to continue procuring coffee and meet growing consumer demand, who is going to produce that technology? What is the industry’s role in this? If the industry doesn’t find the solution, who will?
Join the BCA’s Paul Rooke and guest speaker Jennifer ‘Vern’ Long, CEO of World Coffee Research, as we look into how science is being mobilised to ensure the long-term future of coffee and why we must act now.
You can view the recorded webinar:
