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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the caffeine-addicts-hope-so dept.

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


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:19PM (1 child)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:19PM (#737740)

    Oh, I was not aware of that.

    I did eat Kangaroo once in a nice restaurant in Melbourne.

    When you're visiting a country you should always make an effort to eat their national symbol.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @12:36AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @12:36AM (#738423)

    For your own good I hope you never visit Dickland.