Gala Celebrates Revitalized Coffee Industry
in Gayo Highlands
 

February 12, 2007

Bahasa Indonesia

Dignitaries gathered in the Gayo highlands outside Takengon on February 10 to celebrate the opening of a coffee plantation project that will revitalize the premium coffee industry of Central Aceh . The renovation of the coffee plantation and processing plant is part of a US$ 10 million development project funded by the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Surya Dharma, Minister for Cooperatives, Small and Medium Scale Businesses, and the other guests toured the coffee facility, which will become the province’s business center for the production of premium quality, certified organic coffee. The plant is owned by the Koperasi Baitul Qiradh Baburrayyanb (KBQB), a registered cooperative made up of 5,000 small coffee producers.

“We look to the future of this province and see that it is filled with potential,” said U.S. Government Representative Tom Morris. “We are committed to working with these farmers, to establish a long term relationship and expand their production into the international market.”

Funded by USAID, the coffee project was managed by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) of the United States – an organization with years of experience in cooperative business development in Indonesia and expertise in the specialty coffee industry. USAID partnered with NCBA to upgrade the coffee-farming and coffee-processing infrastructure of the region.

Through the project, which began in 2005, the KBQB has expanded its farmer-based membership from 39 to 5,000 in just one year. With the training provided, all the members are now internationally-certified organic producers of high-grade Arabica coffee. The project also offers expertise and equipment to assist in quality processing and international marketing of the cooperative’s coffee. So far, the cooperative has sold 720 metric tons of quality Arabica coffee at premium prices to specialty buyers in the United States .


The USAID/NCBA project also rehabilitated coffee blocks that were destroyed during 30 years of conflict in the region. It also facilitated the creation of a new cooperative, known as Koperasi Kredit Maju Bersama, which provides local farmers with micro-credit opportunities to help them upgrade their coffee-growing and production facilities.

 

* * *