450,000 PEOPLE AFFECTED BY COFFEE RUST IN NICARAGUA

• Coffee rust causes an emergency in Matagalpa, Jinotega and San Ramón
• Save the Children starts an humanitarian response project

Managua, Nicaragua. 09. 06.2014. Andrea Núñez-Flores Rey

Coffee rust disease, which attacks coffee plants and destroys the production, affects to 450,000 people in Nicaragua, 270,000 of whom are children. Since 2012, it is spreading through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua and it is causing severe losses among small and medium producers.

Most affected population are the families whose only livelihood is coffee production of coffee from Matagalpa and Jinotega, in the north of the country. “In 2013, I had 13 quintals of coffee; however, this year I only had five. I just got 232 USD per a year of work and investment”, affirms Antonio López, a man from the community El Cuá, whose only income source is this.

How does coffee rust affect to child rights?

Save the Children has considered this situation as an emergency for the high number of affected families, whose only livelihood is the coffee production.

On one hand, the safety and wellbeing of the children is at risk, because their parents do not have enough sources to ensure their feeding. “Before we had coffee rust, we used to eat healthier and more food, as chicken or cheese sometimes. Now, we only eat rice and beans”, explains an 11-year-old girl from a community in Matagalpa.

On the other hand, their education is also threatened because their parents do not have incomes to cover their school expenses, “many kids of my grade do not come anymore to the school due to the coffee rust; their parents have not money for them”, Alexander tells us, an 8-year-old boy.

Moreover, another consequence is the possible lack of child protection because a family member is forced to emigrate. “I do not want to leave the country, but if I lose all coffee production and I do not find another job, I do not have another option”, Bernardino explains, from a community of Matagalpa.

Save the Children response

Emergency response project started in May and it this will have an initial duration of three months, with possibility of extension.

195 families will benefit, which should have small children in their charge; be small producers (less than 0.7 hectares of plantation); they must be very affected by coffee rust; they have to live in the target areas (rural communities of Jinotega and Matagalpa).

The first response will be the distribution of fertilizer -to improve crop production- and corn or bean seeds to start growing in June. The aim is to ensure the basic food for children.

During the first months, before they can collect the crop, they will receive cash for work under the condition of sending children to school.

Coffee rust affects for years in these regions; but since 2014, the most direct consequences for children are taking place. In La Dalia (Matagalpa) and El Cuá (Jinotega), cases of severe and acute malnutrition in children under 4 years are increasing compared to previous years. To avoid a general situation of child malnutrition, it is necessary to guarantee livelihood of families who are more dependent on coffee production.