London, 15 June 2018 – The Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization and its staff would like to express their solidarity and sincere condolences to the farmers, their families and other Guatemalans that have lost their lives and property to the recent tragic events caused by the eruption of the Volcán de Fuego.
According to the Guatemalan National Coffee Association (Anacafé) and the Coffee Foundation for Rural Development (Funcafé), the eruption affected parts of Escuintla, Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, El Progreso and some regions in the East of the country, in particular the coffee growing areas in the South-West. Some damage has been reported to production units in the village of El Rodeo, Escuintla. In Alotenango, it is thought that the sand and ash has affected between 15% and 20% of the coffee growing area. In parts of Chimaltenango, the area affected is somewhere between 1,900 and 2,000 manzanas (a unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 7,000 square meters) mainly in the communities of Acatenango, San Pedro Yepocapa, El Tejar, Chimaltenango and San Martín Jilotepeque.
The ICO will be looking into possibilities to assist, in partnership with domestic and international organizations, in the restoration of the coffee production and of the livelihood of coffee farmers affected by the eruption of the Volcán de Fuego.
About the International Coffee Organization
The International Coffee Organization (ICO) is the main intergovernmental organization for coffee, bringing together exporting and importing Governments to tackle the challenges facing the world coffee sector through international cooperation. Our Members represent the Governments of 98% of the world’s coffee producing countries and 83% of consuming countries.
We endeavour to make a positive and practical contribution to the development of a sustainable world coffee sector and to reducing poverty through the following three Strategic Objectives:
- Delivering world-class data, analysis and information to the industry and policy-makers
- Providing a forum for dialogue between and within the public and private sectors
- Facilitating the development of projects and promotion programmes through public-private partnerships.
More information is available at: www.ico.org
