Business Daily (Nairobi)
Allan Odhiambo
15 October 2007
In what is likely to boost the spirit of local coffee producers hard hit by disease outbreaks, the UN has rolled out a Sh210 million project to curb infestations in Kenya and four other nations.
It will be geared towards increasing resilience to leaf rust (CLR) and other diseases that are increasingly threatening production, says the UN's common fund for commodities (CFC).
Crop estimates for the 2007/08 have already been revised downwards following outbreaks of CLR and coffee berry disease (CBD) in key growing areas.
A recent survey by the Coffee Research Foundation (CRF) revealed that the overall risk of CBD in areas such as Embu, Kirinyaga and Nyeri had been factored at 36 per cent- an indication of massive losses in yield. The study also found CRL is active in all growing areas except Machakos and Makueni and warned that the disease would constrain future production.
"The CLR has traditionally been reported in the low altitude areas but with recent effects of climate change its has moved even to high altitude areas making it a real threat to the future," Mrs Loise Njeru, the managing director of Coffee Board of Kenya (CBK), told Business Daily.
And now the UN is striving to avert further damage from the diseases in collaboration with CRF and the CBK as part of efforts to curb the diseases worldwide. The project is also expected to run in the neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and India.
"As you may realise the scope is wider than just Kenya because the diseases are a threat world over and must be handled in a holistic approach," explained Mrs Njeru.
Information from the industry showed CBD was first discovered in Kenya nearly nine decades ago and is caused by the virulent strain of fungus scientifically known as Colletotrichum coffeanum. The fungus lives in the bark of the coffee tree and produces spores which attack the coffee cherries.
CLR on the other hand is said to have been first in Sri Lanka in the 1860s but the most memorable effects of the disease was witnessed in Brazil where it destroyed crop some 37 years ago and has since spread to many parts of the world.
Coffee leaf rust is spread by wind and rain from spores from lesions on the underside of the plant.
The UN fund said the project will evaluate new and existing coffee varieties and hybrids under varying disease pressures and environments in all participating countries to lower costs of disease management and thereby increase sustainability of production for smallholder coffee producers.
"The objective of the project is to build the capacity of institutions in order for them to share improved germplasm between participant African countries and India; to conduct demand-led applied research for variety evaluation that generates alternative methods for control of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) and other diseases; and to deliver new knowledge including CLR resistant germplasm and environmentally friendly chemicals/botanicals to coffee growers, particularly small holders," CFC said in a statement.
The project strategy aims at developing a long term approach to management of coffee diseases in a sustainable manner.
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