Costa Rica urgently needs to stimulate the coffee industry

Due to the decline in coffee prices on the international market, Costa Rican coffee exports totaled US $306 million in 2015, down 26% from US $412 million in 2012, Costa Rica reported on May 12. In the first quarter of 2016, the average world price of coffee was $1.14 per liter, down 26 per cent from the same period in 2014. At the same time, due to the impact of climate change and diseases and insect pests, the coffee growing area of Colombia shrank by 3% in 2014-2015. And because fuel and energy costs are higher than those of neighboring countries, the rising cost of growing coffee also affects exports. In view of the above, there is an urgent need for Costa Rica to stimulate the coffee industry through a series of measures, including: (1) to support coffee growers through the provision of technical and financial services to deal with the problems caused by climate change; and (2) to open up new markets to develop the world's largest importers of coffee, such as Turkey and Tunisia.

At present, pests affecting coffee production in 2014 have been brought under control, while the government provides infrastructure support to farmers who lack technical equipment. The main competitor of Costa Rican coffee in quality is Colombia, but the production and variety of Nicaraguan coffee is gradually increasing.