Insecurity taking toll on famed Gayo coffee

Toebari, Antara, Jakarta

Central Aceh, one of the oldest regencies in the restive Aceh province, is battling to retain its status as one of Indonesia's largest coffee producers.

The regency stretches along the Bukit Barisan mountain range, a fertile plateau with a climate of about 20 degrees Celsius. Coffee from Gayo district is especially famous.

In fact Arabica coffee is but one of the various cash crops that Central Aceh relies on for its locally generated income. The area is also highly suitable for vegetables and fruits.

So fertile is the soil that most of its residents are farmers. Official statistics show that 80 percent of Central Aceh's population of 267,900 people are farmers. Coffee growers account for the majority of them.

"Their livelihood depends heavily on the agricultural products," Central Aceh regent Mustafa M. Tamy MM says.

But over the past few years, production has declined due to insecurity. The military operation to suppress the separatist uprising has scared farmers from their farms.

Official estimates of the 73,000 hectares of coffee farms in Central Aceh, 30,000 hectares have been neglected because they are far from residential areas. Farmers are afraid to go to their farms.

Some residents say that they feel intimidated by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members but that things have been better since the military operation began in Aceh on May 19, 2003.

The neglected farms are generally located in areas bordering the regencies of Pidie, Bireun and North Aceh, which are known hotbeds of the separatist movement. The problem has worsened unemployment in Central Aceh.

Farmers grow three kinds of coffee, Arabica, Robusta and Ateng. The latter is said to be indigenous and the name stands for "Aceh Tengah" (Central Aceh). The coffee grows short, only about one meter tall and is the easiest to harvest.

In fact, Central Aceh, which covers an area of 577,248 hectares, already has fairly good infrastructure to support the agricultural industry.

Asphalt roads have been built connecting one agricultural center to another. The local government has also built basic facilities, such as storehouses and marketplaces.

But residents have complained that the only road connecting Takengon and Bireun has been unsafe.

Poor telecommunications infrastructure poses another major problem. In areas surrounded by mountains, cellular phones do not work.

So although harvests are abundant, the lack of security and poor communications systems has hampered the marketing of the produce. Farmers cannot obtain the latest information of latest prices, unlike major traders who have easy access to the market.

So residents of Gayo plateau are wondering if coffee will still be their livelihood.

The declining economy in Central Aceh and elsewhere in Aceh was the focus of a gathering on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7 that brought together all Aceh regents, governor Abdullah Puteh and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla. They discussed ways to revitalize the economy, which has been battered by insecurity.