With Global Coffee Production Under Threat, Farmers Seek New Solutions

Coffee plantations face threats from bugs, plagues, and genetic fragility—putting United States’ annual consumption of 1.6 billion pounds of coffee at risk.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock, Getty Images

Carmen Alvarez looks down at a 5-year-old coffee plant and frowns. She points to the wide brown spots afflicting some of the leaves and says, “Ashes are good for [dealing with] the plagues.”

Mrs. Alvarez and her husband, Francisco Mamani, have been working with coffee plants near Bolivia’s Amboro National Park for 30 years. In that time, they’ve had their fair share of environmental setbacks.