Dwi Suratno Hadi: Establishing a Brotherhood with Coffee

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Dwi Suratno Hadi

Traveling from one village to another in Temanggung regency, Central Java, and sharing his knowledge on coffee to farmers, Dwi Suratno Hadi, 42, is not looking for material gain. He simply wants to share his skills and offer a brotherhood through coffee.

In carrying out his mission to share his knowledge on coffee, Dwi does not want to be rewarded with money. He was driven by his personal interests and passion and besides, he said, money only offered momentary pleasure. In contrast, he felt that giving without seeking monetary gain gave him the solid satisfaction of establishing a band of brothers.

Dwi believes establishing brotherly ties would make his life much easier. “Many acquaintances means that I will not be alone when I have problems. At the very least, I don’t need to worry about my motorcycle having a flat tire, or going hungry in the middle of the road,” said Dwi, who had migrated to Temanggung regency.

His spirit of brotherhood has driven Dwi to go around, teaching coffee planting techniques and how to manage post-harvest problems. He also created a marketing network by introducing farmers groups to his coffee exporter network. Through the network, the farmers’ coffee spread to the European market.

Dwi does not hesitate to share his knowledge about coffee to anyone from any background. During his days as a barista of a coffee shop at the Umbul Jumprit tourist attraction in Tegalrejo village, Ngadirejo district, Temanggung regency, he often shared information and know-how about coffee to tourists as well as fellow baristas.

He was not worried about being taken for granted. Dwi is pleased, because he has many friends and acquaintances. He is known among baristas across several regions, including Jakarta, Bandung and Bali.

Dwi’s skills in cultivating and processing coffee, as well as his commitment to help farmers, means he is in much demand to help develop coffee in several regions. In the end, he was requested to be involved in a coffee development project in Bengkulu and Tegal.

‘Blind’ about coffee

Before, Dwi was no coffee expert. He worked in a mining company from 2004 to 2009. However, seeing that the company did not have future prospects, he quit.

While he was unemployed, a friend asked Dwi to accompany him in returning a rental car to the Gayo highlands of Aceh. Arriving there, he was impressed by the nature and horticulture farming, and the extensive coffee plantations.

The potential of the region’s natural wealth interested Dwi to become involved. When his friend had finished the business and was ready to head home, Dwi instead chose to stay and farm.

He used his savings and severance pay from his mining job to relocate and learn about horticulture and cultivating coffee.

From his farming experience, Dwi noticed something wrong with the farmers’ methods. The land in Aceh was very fertile, but the farmers were highly dependent on chemical fertilizers.

Dwi, concerned about the situation, went off to learn about organic farming from other farmers and also from the late businessman, Bob Sadino.

He learned, for example, that organic fertilizer for coffee is made from coffee peels and the leachate from coffee fermentation. He also compared organic and non-organic products. He concluded that the quality of organic products was much better.

After this, Dwi returned to touring the country, inviting farmers to start farming organically. In addition to protecting soil health and the environment, organic farming also increased the selling price of agricultural products.

In his second year in Aceh, Dwi decided to focus on coffee. He then moved to Papua to learn about coffee in Wamena; he then moved to Toraja, South Sulawesi, and then to Kintamani, Bali. In addition to learning about coffee cultivation in these areas, he also learned about post-harvest processes.

In 2013, Dwi was invited by a government agency to join a sengon (silk tree) planting program in Central Java. It was through this project that he gained a new experience in Temanggung regency.

There, Dwi saw many silk trees planted along with coffee plants. However, the coffee plants were not being cultivated or processed seriously. The farmers were not even consuming the coffee they grew. “While we were there, us migrants were served coffee from a manufacturer,” he said.

Shortly afterwards, a colleague invited Dwi to work at Wali Limbung Coffee, a coffee company and cafe in Temanggung regency. While working there, he also enriched his knowledge with how to prepare and brew coffee beverages.

Dwi finally decided to leave behind formal employment and instead, decided to spread all he had learned about coffee to farmers.

Rejection

As his first destination, Dwi went to a village in Wonoboyo subdistrict in 2015. As an outsider, the local farmers rejected Dwi.

They rejected all of his ideas outright. The farmers refused to listen when Dwi suggested harvesting only ripe coffee that had turned red.

However, Dwi didn’t give up. In collaboration with several farmers, he applied all the “theories” he had learned to the land. About three months later, more farmers had come to trust Dwi. The cultivation technique he had introduced was proven to have a good impact on plant growth and development.

News of Dwi\'s coffee expertise spread. Farmers from several villages and regions asked for his help Dwi. Aside from the coffee farmers in Temanggung, he is now helping other coffee farmers in Magelang regency.

He has helped hundreds of coffee farmers groups. Dwi says he would only accept payment if the regional recruited his services. He has refused any payment from the farmers groups he has helped.

Dwi also worked to find a market for the farmers’ coffee. Through his network of relatives and acquaintances, he once helped to arrange four containers of Temanggung coffee to be shipped to Korea.

He publicly promoted Temanggung coffee intensively in person and on social media. Through this effort, many foreigners came to Temanggung to purchase the regional coffee as a souvenir.

Dwi succeeded in developing what he believes is the true value of coffee: establishing a brotherhood of farmers who have pride in the coffee they grow.

Dwi Suratno Hadi

Born: Jakarta, Sept. 25 1976

Education: Industrial Technology degree, UPN Veteran, Jakarta