As Rhiney and researchers from the University of Arizona, University of Hawaii at Hilo, CIRAD, Santa Clara University, Purdue University West Lafayette and University of Exeter conclude in a new study in the journalDrawing on recent studies of coffee leaf rust — a fungal disease thatin the late 1800s, and now affects coffee-growing regions the world over — the researchers examined the root causes of past outbreaks.
The “big rust” of 2012-13, for example, which affected coffee-producing countries across Central America and the Caribbean, can be traced back to the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis. The environmental conditions were ripe for coffee leaf rust, the researchers say, but the outbreak was also a function of the way people managed their farms.Article content
During her work with coffee farmers in Central and South America over the past decade, she’s seen firsthand the damage a lack of fungicides, spraying equipment and coffee leaf rust information can do. When Rhiney started his work on coffee leaf rust in 2015, three years had passed since the outbreak in Jamaica. Many producers had been forced to start growing other crops or leave farming altogether. Entire households were affected as quality of life changed and supports fell away, which came with its own set of psychological consequences.