Colombia approves $13.5 mln for coffee tree replacements

Colombia will spend 39 billion pesos ($13.5 million) on coffee tree replacements this year, the government said on Wednesday, after the growers’ federation called repeatedly for aid for farmers amid lower prices and the adverse effects of a stronger peso.

Colombia is the world’s top producer of washed arabica. The growers’ federation has said lower domestic and international coffee prices and a strengthening peso currency, which cuts export profit, have significantly hurt farmers’ income.

Wet weather last year has also affected the quality and quantity of the harvest.

The funds would cover the renovation of more than 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres). The country needs to renew some 90,000 hectares per year to maintain its production.

Colombia expects to produce 14 million 60-kg bags of coffee this year, Cardenas added. It had an output of 14.2 million bags in both 2017 and 2016.

More than half a million Colombian families make their living from coffee farming in the Andean country of nearly 50 million people.