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Puerto Rico bets on a coffee comeback
Thousands of rural families in Puerto Rico's rugged central mountains want to rebuild their traditional coffee economy after the devastation of Hurricane Maria. And one year on, they're betting on a dedicated group of millennials to get the job done, writes Tom Laffay. If they don't succeed, it could mark the end of coffee in Puerto Rico, forcing these last families to leave the island for good.
Puerto Rican coffee farmers lost an estimated 85% of their crops, or some 18 million coffee trees valued at $60m (£46m), and many have lost their homes in the wake of hurricanes Irma and María. [...] On average, 80% of coffee trees were destroyed by Hurricane María.
[...] ConPRometidos is an NGO run by millennials with a mission to create a stable, productive, and self-sufficient Puerto Rico, harnessing the energy, ideas and finances of the island's young diaspora. It began its work about six years ago in tapping into the know-how of young exiles in order to help address some of the problems they had left behind.
The hurricanes presented a new challenge but the plight of the coffee farmers caught the group's eye. They are soliciting a $3m grant from the Unidos por Puerto Rico Foundation to fund a five-year, island-wide project that aims to provide much needed relief to the island's coffee sector. The island can produce 240,000 quintales (100lb) of coffee but is only hitting 40,000, says the organisation's 30-year-old co-founder Isabel Rullán, which means it's importing coffee unnecessarily. Increasing production could bring about $65m dollars to the poor mountain regions, she says.
Related: Second-Largest Blackout in World History Hits Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican Death Toll From Hurricane Maria May be Many Times Higher Than Official Estimate
Puerto Rican Officials Raise Hurricane Maria Death Toll to 2,975 Following GWU Report
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday September 20 2018, @12:00PM (4 children)
tl;dr, yes, if they can raise enough money to rebuild the infrastructure, and get enough people to work on the plantations.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Thursday September 20 2018, @12:55PM (2 children)
But is it a good idea. Whats to say there won't be another devastating hurricane in 5 years time?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday September 20 2018, @04:40PM (1 child)
There probably will be more hurricanes. However, if the cost to rebuild the infrastructure is less than the profits from business before the next hurricane, then it's worth doing.
Also, I don't think we can ignore human factors in how devastating a hurricane is: New York City got back to mostly normal in a matter of weeks after Hurricane Sandy, even though there was lots of damage and flooding. Houston is basically fine now even though Hurricane Harvey wrecked and flooded the place a year ago. Meanwhile, New Orleans has still not returned to the population it had before Katrina hit over a decade ago, and Puerto Rico is still a complete mess 1 year later. Don't tell me that this doesn't have something to do with the opinions of the powerful about which areas actually matter, which by all appearances has a lot to do with whether the people who are most affected by the disaster are rich and white.
Lastly, there's reason to think that part of the agenda with Puerto Rico is to allow things to continue to suck so that more Puerto Ricans will leave and/or drop dead, thus allowing people with the big bucks to snap up everything worth having well under its usual market value.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @05:23PM
I don't think evil enough to have thought of that. Makes sense.
Too bad they can't revolt or express an opinion.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @02:07PM
Subverting Betteridge's law: my true goal
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