A man casts a shadow on a basin with coffee cherries before they are washed at La Majada coffee farm...
A man casts a shadow on a basin with coffee cherries before they are washed at La Majada coffee farm in Ahuachapan, El Salvador, January 10, 2013. Central American farmers who produce some of the world's most sought-after coffee beans are grappling with the re-emergence of a merciless old foe: a tree-killing fungus known as roya spread by the wind. Aggressive outbreaks of the blight have hit Central America's major coffee-producing nations and Mexico, which are home to more than a fifth of the world's arabica coffee production. The pandemic risks decimating yields, threatening hundreds of thousands of livelihoods and export revenues in some of Latin America's poorest countries. Making matters worse, coffee prices have fallen by about half since a mid-2011 peak, leaving farmers to face a double-whammy of shrinking incomes on top of depressed output. Picture taken January 10, 2013. REUTERS/Ulises Rodriguez (EL SALVADOR - Tags: AGRICULTURE BUSINESS)