Bridging knowledge to the field: an evaluation of the agronomic potential of Robusta coffee genetic resources as a cash crop in the Congo Basin

Coffee is an important source of income for small coffee farmers in the South and is traded worldwide as a soft commodity. The economy of coffee production is influenced by the ecology, climate change, the biodiversity, the soil fertility and the socio-economic conditions of the production system. The COFFEEBRIDGE-project (BRAIN-be 2.0 - BELSPO) aims to integrate the expertise from different disciplines to revive a sustainable coffee production in the province of Tshopo, DR Congo. The acquired knowledge will be valorized by developing a scientific-based advisory policy. The emphasis will be on the preservation of the genetic diversity of Coffea canephora (Robusta coffee) and the development of a local sustainable economy in a global context. This project will contribute directly and indirectly to the conservation and valorisation of the genetic resources of Robusta coffee and to several United Nations Development Goals. Although the project focuses on the Congo Basin and the province of Tshopo, it will also contribute to the broader challenges in coffee production. The Botanical Garden of Meise is coordinating the COFFEEBRIDGE-project, which aims to evaluate the potential of Coffea canephora with a focus on the valorization of the genetic diversity. The project is in collaboration with KU Leuven, Koninklijk Museum van Midden-Afrika, INERA Yangambi, ERAIFT, Rijksarchief, UNIKIS, ULB and CoffeeLab Independent. The COFFEEBRIDE-project consists of several work packages of which this doctoral research is part of. The research will describe the diversity of the Robusta coffee in the collection of INERA on a morphological and genetic level, as well as a chemical and organoleptic evaluation. The objectives of the research are as follows: • Developing descriptors for Coffea canephora • Describing the different genetic lines of Coffea canephora in the collections of the INERA (fieldwork) • Creating (herbarium) vouchers (fieldwork) • Constructing of collection protocols for the chemical and organoleptic analyses (in collaboration with CoffeeLab Independent, UNIKIS and ULB) • Supervising local staff and coordinating research in Yangambi • Processing and interpretation of the collected data (including data from genetic and • chemical analyses) • Publication of several scientific articles in leading journals and the completion of a doctoral thesis • Presentation of results at several international conferences The project involves a considerable amount of fieldwork which will be carried out mainly in Yangambi (DR Congo). Here, the researcher will collaborate with local researchers and staff of the INERA and UNIKIS.