Quiet Efforts of Coffee Fighters in Remote Areas

KOMPAS/DANU KUSWORO

Residents in Modio, Central Mapia, Dogiyai regency, Papua carry agriculture products to nearby market through forests to reach a narrow suspension bridge over the Mapia River on Sunday (25/3/2018). The government planned to build wider bridge.

If there was a way to change the taste of coffee from bitter to sweet, this story would show you how.

Deep in a remote area, a group of people are willing to pass through harsh terrain to change the fate of the villagers.

Every time they want to sell their coffee, the people in rural areas in Modio, Mapia district, Dogiai regency, Papua, have to pass through a difficult route. They have to take a 40-kilometer journey to reach the town. The journey is not easy. With bare feet, sometimes, they have to climb down a rocky hill, crossing the swift Mapia River and passing through the forest.

There is a suspension bridge connecting their village to the outside world. To get to the bridge, they have to go around, passing the forests along the river side. It takes a day of walking to pass the harsh route. Women take their children so that they are able to take care of them.  Bringing steamed yams with them, they walk down the town.

There is an ojek (motorcycle taxi) service that can take the residents but it will cost Rp 50,000 per trip. Ojek can only take them only up to the riverbank. The residents still have to walk to cross the river. Arriving on the other side of the river, they have to wait for a public transport that will take them to the town. It costs Rp 50,000 per person for each trip.

Getting through the harsh route in the remote area of Papua is also experienced Mama Fransiska, a farmer from Modio. During a harvest time, she has to go down the town to sell the crop yield. She could take a motorcycle taxi, but it would be too costly because she usually brings a large quantity of crop yields. The cost for the transportation she has to pay is imbalance with the money she earns from the sales of the crop yields.

"If the crop yield is not so much, I will carry them with me.  I get used to walking," said Mama Fransiska.

Fransiska is lucky. Now her coffee can be sold to Father (Pastor) Biru Kira Pr. She just needs to take her coffee to the pastorate of Modio, where the pastor lives.  Father Kira will buy the coffee so that Fransisca does not need to go to town again. Her coffee (green bean) is of good quality and can fetch price of between Rp 50,000 and Rp 70,000 per kg. She also does not need to pay the transportation costs.

The green beans are then processed and packaged by Father Kira, who then sells the ground coffee to the town. He takes over the heavy work of the residents to take a harsh journey to the town.

In Bomomani, Dogiyai,  a group of priests had started the movement earlier. They have bought coffee from farmers since 2008.

Father Ferdinand, the first pastor in charge in Bomomani pastorate, was encouraged to buy green coffee beans from farmers because he saw many coffee plantations were abandoned, because farmers did not have a market access.

"The coffee price was used to be very low, about 15,000 per kg (green bean). We tried to buy and helped to sell them even it was difficult because the difficult access to the market," said Ferdinand.

At that time, the Trans-Nabire-Dogiai land route was still difficult to pass. To get to Bomomani from Nabire, it took two days by car. During the rainy season, the vehicle had to pass a muddy road.

Until now, he still buys the green coffee beans from the farmers, whatever the quality  is. Once the coffee purchases had dried up their cash, and the priests had to use their personal money to buy the coffee.

"There is an excitement we get when we see the farmers come home with money from their coffee plantation. The money is used for the education of their children. So, until now, whether we have enough capital or not, we continue to buy the coffee," said Father Reynaldo Antoni Haryanto Pr, a pastor at the Parish of Mary Receive the Good News in Bomomani, Papua.

Simple

The purchased  green beans are processed and roasted using a simple equipment, which is quite different from those used in cafes in Jakarata.  Reynaldo roasts the coffee beans with a fire sourced from diesel power generator.

The loud sound of the engine often beat the "crack" fracture of the grounded coffee beans. Coffee roaster is often delayed if the diesel generator is damaged.

The ground coffee is branded Mamo (Mapia Mountain). Coffee grown in the Mapia mountain is  a rare variety, called typika. They are organic coffee because the farmers nurture the coffee plant naturally.

With the profits from the ground coffee sales, the priests can buy coffee seeds for the farmers, operate a hydro power plant for local people and to help the education of the farmers\' children.

This year, seven of the farmers’ children are accepted to stay at the Bomomani dormitory. A business calculation does not work in the coffee trade here.

The initiative to help farmers came from Deni, a pilot in charge of flying the plane in remote area in Papua. He cuts the distribution chain by bringing the farmers’ coffee directly to the owners of the coffee shops in a number of cities.

He still remembered how difficult was to carry a bag of coffee beans from his plantation in Lanny Jaya regency. Road access is still difficult. The people should walk for as long as 95 kilometers to Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya. "The journey can take two days, walking up and down the hill and through the forest," he recalled.

Now road access has improved, but the prices of the farmers\' coffee are still low. Later, he opened a coffee shop in Timika so as to accommodate the coffee from farmers in Lanny. By buying the coffee directly from farmers, the supply chain can be shortened. Farmers can receive a higher price. The price difference can reach up to Rp 10,000 per kg compared to those offered by the middlemen.

The owner of the Otentik coffee shop in Jayapura, Glorio Ledang, also tried to get out of the conventional trading chain. He started building his own coffee source. He helps empower the farmers by directly buying green beans from them.

Transportation access is also difficult for Waerebo residents, in Flores. They must walk more than five kilometers up and down the mountain to carry their coffee to the town.

According to Marten Forma (50), other coffee farmers, due to the transportation problem, many farmers bartered their coffee with basic needs such as rice and salt. Now, they can sell their coffee to an owner of a coffee shop in Bandung, who is interested in marketing arabica coffee from Waerebo.

"He buys the green coffee beans directly from Waerebo. He takes a dozen of people down the mountain to help him. After that, the coffee is delivered to Bandung by plane," said Marten. Amid the gloomy side of the coffee trade, there is still a hope for farmers in the remote areas.

(ITA/NIT/GRE/VDL)