Declining coffee market hits Lampung farmers hard<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nTanggamus, Lampung<\/p>\n
Although people still enjoy drinking coffee at US$1.5 a mug at
\nStarbucks in the United States, Rp 5,000 (40 cents) at Plaza
\nIndonesia, or Rp 1,000 (10 cents) at beverage stands across the
\ncountry, coffee growers in Lampung are facing poverty because of
\na declining coffee market.<\/p>\n
Many coffee growers faced with the food crisis have to consume
\nlocally-known tiwul (a dried cassava snack) because they can no
\nlonger afford to purchase rice.<\/p>\n
Jama'in, a 52-year-old coffee farmer on Panggung Island in
\nTanggamus regency, told The Jakarta Post recently that
\nthe stockpile crisis, prolonged drought, and sharp drop in coffee
\nprices have forced thousands of coffee farmers in the province to
\neat tiwul as an alternative food.<\/p>\n
According to him, coffee growers have had to cut down on
\neating rice from three times to twice or even once a day because
\nrice prices have soared to between Rp 3,500 and Rp 4,000 per
\nkilogram.<\/p>\n
All coffee farmers in the province have been hit hard and are
\nfrustrated by the fall in the price of coffee to Rp 2,000 per
\nkilogram over the last eight months, from Rp 3,000 in January.<\/p>\n
\"We are forced to eat tiwul every day because our coffee
\nplantations are currently not bearing any produce.\"<\/p>\n
Similarly, Rasta, a 40-year-old farmer from Atarlebar village,
\nWonosobo Subdistrict, Tanggamus Regency, spoke of a similar
\nunpleasant story.<\/p>\n
\"Almost 200 of the 350 families in our village cannot afford
\nto buy rice. We have been forced to cook cassava instead,\" she
\nadded.<\/p>\n
She said that amid the paddy harvest season in Talangpadang,
\nrice remained expensive because their village was isolated.<\/p>\n
Purwo, another coffee farmer in Talangpadang said that with
\ncoffee sold at only Rp 2,000 per kilogram, his family was only
\nable to survive.<\/p>\n
\"Many farmers have gone to the city of Bandarlampung to find
\njobs in the construction sector.<\/p>\n
\"For those who have capital, they can still grow vegetables
\nand nucleus plants on their farmland. But many farmers have
\ndestroyed their coffee plants following the drastic drop in
\ncoffee prices,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lampung is home to 126,429 families growing around 135,477
\nhectares of coffee with an annual production of at least 63,280
\ntons.<\/p>\n
The province's main production centers are spread across the
\nregencies of West Lampung, Tanggamus, Way Kanan, North Lampung
\nand South Lampung.<\/p>\n
Chairman of Lampung's Indonesian Coffee Exporters Association
\n(AEKI) Nuril Hakim accused other coffee-producing countries of
\nconspiring to decrease international prices by marking up the
\ntheir production levels.<\/p>\n
With marked-up production, coffee prices in the London-based
\ninternational market face continuous pressures, undermining
\ncoffee farmers in Indonesia, India and Vietnam, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Brazil's swelling coffee production has been exaggerated
\ncausing coffee prices in the London market, which appeared fine
\nat between US$360 and $530 per ton in May, to drop to less than
\n$474 per ton,\" Nuril said.<\/p>\n
As a result, he said coffee production in Indonesia was also
\ndown by 10 percent to Rp 350,000 per ton.<\/p>\n
He said the widespread destruction of coffee plants has also
\ncontributed to the province's drastic decrease in coffee
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
\"Lampung supplies more than 65 percent of the nation's total
\ncoffee production. If farmers destroy their coffee plants it
\ncould affect national stocks,\" Nuril added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/declining-coffee-market-hits-lampung-farmers-hard-1447893297",
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