The International Coffee Organization (ICO) on Thursday extended its support to Colombia’s coffee federation (Fedecafe) while tens of thousands of growers continued to protest all across the country.
Several external factors have thrusted one of Colombia’s flagship industries into a precarious position. investment
Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos, himself a former coffee federation official, has called the strikes “unjust and unnecessary” and has claimed his administration has given more funding to the farmers than any other, pouring $1.6 million per month into the industry.
“The government have put quite a lot of resources on the table,” said the ICO official.
“The big challenge for the small farmers in Colombia is productivity,” said Galindo. A productive small farm will make enough to turn a profit, but Colombia is only just beginning to crawl back from a period of bad weather and subsequent plant disease that decimated bushes and plummeted production to all-time lows.
“We have great sympathy for the farmers, and we hope that everything will be done to help them. But the only way to solve this is to sit down at the table and talk it through,” said Galindo. The “way forward for the coffee farmers must be with the federation.”
Sources
- Interview with Mauricio Galindo, Head of Operations International Coffee Organization
- Press release from ICO