Indonesia Proposes Market Expansion, Upgrading of Farmers’ Skills to Tackle Drop in Coffee Prices
Vice President Jusuf Kalla on the forum, New York, AS, Wednesday (26/9). (Photo by: Vice Presidential Secretariat).
Abundant supply of world coffee bean has caused the significant drop of its price in the global market by 70 percent since 1982, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said.
“Small farmers are the most disadvantaged groups,” Kalla said in his remarks during a meeting with representatives from 30 coffee-producing countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, the US, Wednesday (25/9) local time.
According to the Vice President, more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s coffee plantations are managed by small farmers; thus, Indonesia is very concerned about this crisis despite the increased profits of the world’s large coffee industry.
“More than 25 million small coffee farmers around the world are struggling to make ends meet. Indonesia alone has 1.8 million coffee farmers,” he said, adding that with the decline of world coffee prices, some of the farmers have decided to shift their businesses to other sectors.
Therefore, Kalla invited the coffee-producing countries to make a breakthrough to change the lives of coffee farmers around the world. The four points proposed by Indonesia are as follows:
- The coffee-producing countries must continue to expand the coffee market and control its supply;
- Small farmers’ skills must be upgraded to produce better quality coffee with added value;
- Partnership between industry and small farmers must be established; it can be done by big coffee industries by providing CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) to the small farmers, and
- Special efforts must be made to maintain the balance of coffee prices for farmers, industries and consumers.
“The supports of International Coffee Organization (ICO) are needed in this regard,” Kalla added. (Setwapres RI/ES)
Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Edited by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas
