Coffee on canal stirs poverty reduction

PANAMA CITY - Coffee production is becoming an important option for Panama to reduce poverty through increased exports, leading to improving lifestyles along the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal Authority, known as ACP, inaugurated the first coffee processing plant along the canal on Monday. ACP administrator, Jorge Quijano, said that the project is being run in conjunction with the private sector and coffee farmers.

It is part of a series of programs being run along the canal, named PIEA, aiming to make it a profitable route for more than just maritime cargo transit.