Kopi Lestari

CONTEXT

Sumatra is the largest producer of Indonesian coffee. Small-holders grow Arabica coffee in the highlands (Aceh, North Sumatra), while Robusta is found in the lowlands (Lampung). The Indonesian coffee yield is one of the lowest in the world, this is strongly linked to local deforestation, a critical issue in Sumatra which has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at adding value to coffee fields with agroforestry plantations, improving ecosystem conditions in fields, ensuring the long-term quality and availability of coffee and increasing & diversifying revenues for farmers and populations.

The KBQ Baburrayyan cooperative was created in 2002, with 600 members. The conflict between the Indonesian government and the “Free Aceh” rebels from 1976 to 2005 claimed many lives and had a negative impact on the social and economic development of the region. KBQ Baburrayyan cooperative has helped create stable market access for its members to revive the coffee industry after the civil war. In 2006, the cooperative members received their first organic premium and KBQ Baburrayyan began to grow dramatically to more than 5,500 members.

In October 2007, the cooperative became Fair Trade certified and developped rapidly. The cooperative bought the coffee processing factory they formerly rented in Takengon and creates employment for community members of Takengon and has become one of the big coffee factories and a main buyer in the area.

In Lampung & North Sumatra, the Kopi Lestari project supports several groups of coffee farmers, very dependent on coffee production and price. Planting fruit trees in and around coffee fields help preserve soils and reduce erosion, while helping farmers to ensure optimal growing conditions for the production of coffee. It also promotes communities’ self-suffiency by planting tree species with economic value for the farmers (timber, fruits, medicinal, animal feed…), adapted to the planting models with coffee and available in local tree nurseries.

During off-season, farmers are trained on agroecology techniques.