The MOCCA Project, financed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and implemented by a consortium led by an alliance between TechnoServe and Promecafé, aims to promote research initiatives that improve the profitability of the sector.
On August 25, MOCCA and Promecafe launched the Competitive Fund to Support Coffee Research, which is aimed at companies, public and private organizations, as well as research centers in Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, to co-finance research to improve the profitability of coffee producers.
“We are excited to collaborate with Promecafe on this initiative. It is our hope that this USDA-funded fund will enable regional researchers to expand research aimed at discovering practices or technologies that can help coffee-producing families become more profitable,” said Ryan Bathrick, Director of MOCCA.
MOCCA is a 7-year initiative funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its Food for Progress Program, which seeks to improve agricultural productivity and expand trade in agricultural products. The MOCCA project is being executed by a consortium led by TechnoServe.
Lines of research to be funded
Some examples of lines of research that could be funded were mentioned during the presentation:
- Productivity improvement
- Cost reduction
- Adaptation to climate change
- Reduction of negative impacts on the environment
- Circular agriculture – use of coffee by-products
- Increase in cup quality
- Among others.
René León Gómez, Executive Secretary of Promecafe, mentioned the importance of the proposals considering aspects such as the adoption of affordable, accessible and low complexity technology by coffee producing families.
The research competitive fund is constituted as part of the joint actions between PROMECAFE and MOCCA, formalized in the technical cooperation framework agreement signed between the parties, for which MOCCA is placing a total amount of US$300 thousand dollars.
The competitive fund will finance up to 50% of the total cost of the research or a maximum of US$30,000. The deadline to apply is September 30, 2023. For information on how to apply visit the website: www.promecafe.net
About Promecafe:
The Regional Cooperative Program for the Technological Development and Modernization of Coffee Growing (PROMECAFE), is a research and cooperation network, comprised of the coffee institutions of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic and Jamaica, and the technical support of IICA, CATIE and WCR. It became legally established in 1978, with the purpose of improving and developing the technology applied to coffee growing in Mesoamerica, mainly to deal with the coffee berry borer and leaf rust, problems never seen before in regional coffee growing and for which the region was unprepared.
The program is proud to have responded to the challenges of the coffee sector, and of the following achievements and valuable results throughout its 45 years of existence: the generation of varieties and hybrids with high productivity potential, quality and tolerance to pests and diseases; training of technicians and specialists in diverse areas of coffee growing, integration of technical cooperation networks, management of regional projects, development of regional events, among others; all with the vision of contributing to promote the development and prosperity of coffee producing families and communities in the Mesoamerican region.
