"Coffee Republic" Brings Sovereignty to Coffee Farmers
A farmer harvests coffee beans in the village of Sukorejo in Sumber Weringin district, Bondowoso, East Java, on Tuesday (18/7). Picking the red beans is the standard operating procedure applied in the Ijen Raung coffee cluster to produce quality coffee.
The “coffee revolution” in Bondowoso, East Java, was carried out by local farmers in 2011, which was marked by the emergence of coffee clusters. Since then, the farmers have worked harder than usual. With the change, they are now free from the snares of middlemen.
Coffee clusters are part of the farmers’ efforts to implement change in the cultivation and post-harvest processing of their coffee.
Coffee farmers in Bondowoso, especially on the slopes of Mount Ijen and Mount Raung, no longer pick coffee beans haphazardly. They don’t pick green or yellow coffee fruit that are not yet fully mature. Farmers have become more selective in harvesting and only pick the red fruit.
Processing is also more complicated, because it must go through several stages, including sorting and skinning the fruit, and sorting and drying the coffee seeds.
"In the past, before the establishment of clusters, we harvested the coffee carelessly. We picked the immature green fruit. We also dried coffee seeds on the road so they were often scattered by chickens. After joining the cluster, our work has become more complicated, but we can enjoy the delicious taste and good price of coffee," said Mat Hosen, 61, a coffee farmer and Chairman of the Maju I farmers group in Sukorejo village, Sumberwringin district, Bondowoso.
The coffee clusters are the result of a coaching program conducted by the Bondowoso regency administration along with various parties. Through coffee clusters, farmers are taught about cultivating coffee plants and processing coffee seeds after harvest in accordance with established methods.
Mat Hosen acknowledges that before the establishment of coffee clusters, their coffee tasted bitter and smelled of asphalt. However, after joining a coffee cluster, he could tell his coffee was more fragrant and was sweet and rich, with flavors of chocolate and caramel.
Mat Hosen enjoys not only a cup of his own coffee, but also the higher income he receives from his coffee plantation.
By following the cluster’s processing standards, green coffee from the farmers’ harvests are worth at least Rp 100,000 per kilogram. This price is higher than the Rp 40,000 per kg for coffee beans that did not undergo special processing.
"The price of coffee beans can be higher by Rp 60,000 per kg if the farmers want to work extra hard. Those who work harder will get better profits," said Mat Hosen, laughing.
High price
Today, farmers can sell their arabica coffee beans at high prices. Farmers only need to ensure good nursing, harvesting, and processing according to the coffee cluster’s guidelines.
Suyitno, 60, the chairman of the Bondowoso Coffee Farmers Cooperative, said that farmers who cultivated and processed their coffee according to the cluster’s guidelines could produce coffee with the same taste.
In applying the standards, the coffee produced by cluster farmers is identified as the Java Arabica coffee of Ijen Raung.
The geographical indication is the identity of a commodity. It indicates the natural or human factors, or a combination of both, that give particular characteristics and qualities to the resulting commodity.
"Only the coffee processed according to cluster standards is entitled to the Java Arabica Ijen Raung label. Our coffee has a quality standard and flavor. This way, we can also set the price. The middlemen do not dare buy our cheap coffee. We also have a niche market that seeks our products,"he said.
The retired police officer stressed that the Bondowoso coffee farmers had gained independence, as they could now determine the price of their coffee. The price is no longer set by buyers or middlemen.
Nusantara Coffee Festival
The sovereignty of coffee farmers is the realization of the dream of “the Bondowoso Coffee Republic”, an idea that was proclaimed by Bondowoso Regent Amin Said Husni at the opening of the Coffee Nusantara Festival in 2016.
"Bondowoso coffee farmers have been struggling to produce the best coffee since 2011, but the Bondowoso Coffee Republic was declared only in 2016," said Amin during the 2017 Nusantara Coffee Festival held on Aug. 26.
The Bondowoso Coffee Republic is not just a slogan. The concept was expected to motivate Bondowoso’s coffee farmers and coffee industry. The establishment of clusters in 2011 were an important foundation for the establishment of the Bondowoso Coffee Republic.
The idea of establishing clusters appeared when Amin, who often visited Mount Ijen, saw coffee seeds being dried on the road, out in the open. Cars often ran over the coffee seeds as they passed on the road.
He also frequently visited the coffee plantation belonging to state-owned PT Perkebunan Nusantara XII, which produces the popularly called Java Belawan coffee.The visits motivated him to improve local coffee cultivation by establishing coffee clusters.
Amin then cooperated with several related institutions to provide capital, cultivation knowledge and processing technology and to set up a marketing network.
For example, Perhutani provides the land, Bank Indonesia the knowledge that changed the farmers’ mindset to improve cultivation, and the Indonesian Coffee and Cacao Research Institute provided cultivation and coffee processing techniques. Meanwhile, Bank Jatim helps provide capital and the Association of Coffee Farmers, Bondowoso regency and exporters assisted in establishing marketing networks.
During the first year of the cluster’s establishment in 2011, Perhutani provided 3,000 hectares of land. At present, by farmers cultivate coffee on 14,000 ha of Perhutani’s lands.
The program increased not only the size of coffee plantations in Bondowoso, but also the productivity of arabica coffee, which increased from 500 kg/ha in 2011 to 1 ton/ha in 2016. According to the Bondowoso agriculture office, 1,500 tons of arabica coffee beans was produced in the regency in 2010. That number increased to 3,000 tons in 2016.
In order to strengthen the sovereignty of coffee farmers in the Bendowoso Coffee Republic, the local government plans to further expand the clusters’ coffee plantation to 20,000 ha in 2020, including opening a new area as a coffee center.
"We will cultivate coffee on Perhutani\'s lands on the slopes of Argopuro Mountain. The potential land that can be planted with coffee is about 10,000 hectares. However, we will try to develop an area of 500 hectares in the first phase," said Amin.
Coffee farmers want the sovereignty to spread to other farmers across Bondowoso, so that no farmers are under the control of middlemen.
