A Call for Collective Organizing in Puerto Rico’s Coffee-Growing Communities

Abstract

I f successful agricultural production depends on a variety of socioeconomic, political, and environmental factors, what happens when many of these simultaneously stand against success? Th is is the case for the Puerto Rican coff ee industry, in which several decades of low yields and high costs have caused many to abandon farming altogether. Those who remain face the challenges by virtue of an optimism largely centered on national pride. Now, the economic decline on the island in the 2010s and the devastation caused by Hurricane María in 2017 have potentially created an opportunity for Puerto Rico to restructure the governance of its coff ee farming sector. Such change is pressing in light of the local government’s emphasis on neoliberal policies and the climate projections indicating enhanced potential for tropical storms of similar catastrophic magnitudes. The coming era of coffee farming on