Capacity Building Program for six Latin American Countries against Coffee Leaf Rust

Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru

The grant has been extended in support of the training session and other institutional capacity building interventions, to be implemented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) body named The Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, under the project entitled 'Capacity Building Program for Latin American Countries against Coffee Leaf Rust'. The main objective of this program is to help six coffee exporting countries in Latin America to combat this disease which has had immense negative impacts on the quality of the coffee produced as well as causing significantly reduced yield. The direct beneficiaries are six research institutes from Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru. The project achieved its short term outputs: 1. A network aimed at the use of mutation techniques and biotechnology to combat coffee leaf rust was established among leading coffee research institutes and universities in six Latin American countries with participation of other international institutes. 2. Following an initial planning workshop, a two-week training course provided theoretical and practical knowledge on various concepts of mutation induction in coffee. As the course participants to a large extend were established staff members of the respective coffee research institutes the project can build on a group of experienced researchers. 3. Specialized equipment has been purchased for each institute in order to facilitate initiation of the respective research projects. Phase 1 of this project has paved the way to developing new CLR resistant varieties in the foreseeable future that will significantly contribute to the economy in the region.