In recent years roya, or coffee rust, has damaged coffee plants in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, causing massive damage to production. National production has reduced by 70% and the countries have been forced to import coffee to respond to local demand.

The Lavazza Foundation, together with Oxfam, has launched a bi-national project to support small coffee producers in the Dominican Republic and Haiti through cooperatives, which involves 2,208 small producers in Haiti and 1,230 producers in the Dominican Republic.

The project allowed 8 million coffee plants to be replanted in the two countries over three years.
Organized activities focused on technical assistance and training for local producers.
It was also given support for the creation of a small local roasting facility in the Dominican Republic, training young producers on the techniques of roasting and marketing the product.

Today the project is entering its second phase, which will see an expansion of operations in Cuba and a direct participation of Lavazza experts in training producers on the subject of quality.