Benefitting from strong coffee

However, across Indonesia, coffee productivity per hectare or per coffee bush is currently very low.  One hectare produces on average just 700 kilograms of beans a year, which is less than a third of the 2,500 kilograms of beans per hectare produced in Vietnam. Many coffee plants are more than 30 years old - some even dating back to the Dutch colonial period. With the ideal age for a coffee plant being 15-20 years, this has a serious impact on production. Crop maintenance is minimal with little pruning and low fertilization. Farmers often limit activities to harvesting and processing of the cherries.

With funding from the Ford Foundation, the overall goal of the Building an Inclusive Coffee Market in Indonesia project is to engage large coffee companies to develop inclusive and sustainable supply chains.  The project will concentrate its major activities in Flores whose coffee is beginning to develop a reputation amongst coffee connoisseurs in Europe and Japan.

The project aims to increase coffee farmer livelihoods through:    

• Improved crop maintenance
• Upgraded post-harvesting techniques
• Better drying and storage facilities
• Improved selection of quality coffees
• Better linkages to buyers
• Better administration skills
• Increased income through improved sales

Counting the beans

The Building an Inclusive Coffee Market project will deliver the following outcomes:

• Farmers with improved livelihoods – a 20% average income increase to 4,000 farmers over the life of the project
• Increased productivity – 4,000 farmers will improve their skills in harvest and post-harvest management of coffee.
• Reduced environmental impact – 1200 farmers will adopt approaches and technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Improved business growth in targeted area - a minimum of 3 coffee companies will increase sourcing and turnover from the targeted area.