HELP FOR INDONESIAN COFFEE FARMERS TO SELL BACKSTOCK

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the life of coffee farmers in Papua’s Dogiyai regency of Indonesia.

The closure of seaports and airports following the outbreak has disrupted market access for the coffee beans, leaving farmers with 2 tons of backstock, more than half of this year’s harvest.

The pandemic has also caused a decline in coffee prices that threatens the farmer’s welfare.

Belift is a speciality coffee social enterprise with a mission to empower underserved coffee farmers in Indonesia and homeless youth in San Francisco with education and employment opportunities.

They are teaming up with the Community Welfare Development Foundation (YAPKEMA) to help the farmers sell 500 kilograms of the remaining backstock through a direct-trade model and e-commerce platform starting on Sept. 20.

Belift co-founder, Ivan Hartanto said, the farmers usually sold the beans to local markets or big cities in Java through trade shows and local roasters. With limited transportation and declining orders, many beans have yet to be sold.

Moreover, farmers face challenges in getting financial resources to upgrade post-harvest processing equipment and have limited knowledge about producing specialty coffee.

With help from Surabaya-based coffee company Goodwill Coffee & Co, Belift has roasted the green beans and turned them into 2,000 coffee boxes, each containing 200 grams of single-origin Arabica coffee beans.

The project has set itself a goal of selling all the packages by the end of October and to donate the entire profit of around Rp 75 million (US$5,093) to the farmers community.

Afterward, Belift will assist the farmers community in improving the infrastructure and the coffee quality.