Press Release: Project BREEDCAFS Nicaragua advances

In Nicaragua a group of 20 women is following a long term training for the reproduction of coffee hybrid and forest plants with the technique of rooted cutting. Currently, this group is in the process of organisational and business strengthening and intends to develop an economic enterprise whose main business will be the reproduction, dissemination and commercialisation of hybrids plants to small farmers.

The group of women has implemented the infrastructures and capacities for the reproduction of hybrid plants and already started with the production process, at this stage, 10,000 hybrid plants could be produced through the mini-cuttings that is being done from a somatic juvenile batch of plantlets provided by the ECOM laboratory in Sebaco, Nicaragua. To carry out this activity specific tunnels were built in La Cumplida Farm near Matagalpa to acclimatize the embryos and to start the production and dissemination of hybrids.

Other activity promoted by BREEDCAFS project has been the promoting dialogue among coffee value chain stakeholders, in the next months, the launch of the coffee innovation platform will take place. An innovation platform is being formed with the objective of communicating the progress and possible constraints of the project, jointly proposing actions to improve the implementation, systematize the lessons learned and share knowledge and know-how with the coffee chain stakeholders.

The platform will be integrated with the following actors: a small farmer representative, a representative of a large farmer, Atlantic Exporter, Moringa Fund, NICAFRANCE Foundation, Coffee School, SNV, CIRAD and a representative of the Plataforma Nicaraguense de Cafe Sostenible (PNCS).

Objective the BREEDCAFS

The Project BREEDCAFS develops new coffee hybrids with high productivity in Agroforestry Systems (AFS) and guarantees markets for production. Coffee hybrids will contribute to reduce deforestation and increase forest cover. The BREEDCAFS project is financed by the European Union, led by CIRAD, and is implemented in France, Nicaragua, Cameroon and Vietnam. In Nicaragua the project is implemented by SNV and Fundation Nicafrance.

The idea is to promote genetic resources and varietal creation around F1 hybrids in coffee (developed by CIRAD and partners), to develop agricultural practices around agroforestry with associated environmental services, to transform products with maximum quality and an organoleptic quality linked to the variety, the terroir and the adapted modes of transformation.