The Chamber of Deputies asked the Secretary of Agriculture to declare a state of emergency over the situation of Mexican coffee producers. Various factors facing the Mexican coffee industry have caused production to decline by 70 percent.
More than half a million coffee producers in 13 states have been affected, said deputy Jorge Alejandro Carvallo, of the PRI. Carvallo asked the federal government to implement the Temporary Employment Program to support coffee growers. He said that in addition to facing problems relating to climate change, the coffee sector has suffered from price manipulation and hoarding.
“Production has declined from 40 to 70 percent due to human causes and climate change, which promotes la roya, a fungal disease that destroys coffee. Also, the situation has been worsened by hoarding and price manipulation,” said Carvallo.
He noted that on the current path, coffee growers could disappear.
“We are asking the federal government to declare a state of emergency to address the problem of la roya,” said Carvallo. “We need a national coalition to help coffee production.”
The deputy from the New Alliance Party, Ángel García Yáñez, said that coffee production is an industry on which more than three million people directly or indirectly depend.
She said that the industry is worth around 879 million dollars per year, but that it is facing a severe crisis related to the roya epidemic.
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