Peruvian farmers abandoning coffee plantations for coca fields

Coca cultivation in Peru, which decreased considerably between 2015 and 2016, rose 14 percent to 49,900 hectares in 2017
InSight Crime
Thursday, March 7, 2019

A drop in coffee prices is forcing hundreds of Peruvian farmers to seek work in coca plantations-a sign that the country, like its neighbor Colombia, is seeing a boom in coca cultivation. A report by the Association of Exporters (ADEX) notes that although coffee production increased by 6 percent in Peru between January and November of 2018, the total value of the exported goods decreased by 6 percent. This is directly attributed to low prices in the international market and obstacles in the consolidation of sales contracts. Lorenzo Castillo, a general manager of the National Coffee Board (JNC), stated last December that farmers had started migrating to drug-trafficking regions of the country to work on coca plantations, where they can earn higher wages.