Prof Rahmat Pambudy: Equitable National Coffee Ecosystem Can Make Coffee Agribusiness as Indonesia Renewable-Black Gold
Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Management of IPB University, Prof Rahmat Pambudy, explained that it is necessary to develop a national coffee ecosystem so that the coffee industry can grow sustainably and equitably. He termed the vision of coffee agribusiness development in the future as ‘Indonesia Renewable-Black Gold’ which can prosper coffee farmers throughout the archipelago.
“Indonesia is famous for its coffee because of its diversity and is favored by the global community. I think that Indonesian coffee will dominate the world not from the amount, but from the variety of distinctive flavors,” he said.
Prof Rahmat said the national coffee ecosystem can be built by combining capabilities in upstream, on farm and downstream. The effort will make the national coffee business superior, in the sense of producing the best technical, economic and social environmental efficiency.
“If we want to build an ecosystem, there must be justice for farmers, breeders and processors,” he explained in the Baitul Izzah Study Webinar with the theme ‘Building a National Coffee Ecosystem’ (24/03).
The trend and popularity of coffee is currently still climbing. At least three billion cups of coffee are now consumed every day, according to the International Coffee Organization (ICO). Coffee is the third largest plantation commodity after palm oil. Indonesia’s coffee export value reached US$849 million.
“No less than 7.8 million coffee farmers or around 98 percent of coffee production comes from smallholder plantations. In the last 10 years, the coffee industry has also experienced growth of 250 percent,” said Prof Rahmat Pambudy.
According to him, coffee is a new hope because of its growth can be seen from the on farm and downstream sectors. However, Indonesia is still inferior to Brazil and Vietnam. “We still have problems in the aspects of seeds, fertilization and good agricultural practices,” he explained.
These problems, he continued, need to be overcome in terms of production and quality. The national coffee industry also faces global challenges such as the pandemic and technological competition. The pandemic has changed consumer habits, so new ways of producing and serving coffee are needed.
“From a domestic perspective, the coffee industry also faces challenges such as low productivity, long supply chains, low national per capita coffee consumption, and lack of technological engineering. Coupled with the challenges of climate change, there is a need for coffee seeds that are resistant to various environmental stresses,” he added.
He assessed that the national coffee supply chain is actually almost perfect from upstream to downstream. However, it still needs to be supported by digitalization to improve precision agriculture.
“Precision agriculture is very important because it is closely related to the need for water, fertilizer and seeds. If this precision is improved to near high accuracy, it will automatically increase the production and quality of national coffee beans,” he explained.
He emphasized that increasing precision in the national coffee supply chain is very important so that an equitable coffee industry can be realized. The added value of coffee can also be further improved.
“Indeed, technology requires large investments and policies are also complicated, but if we share and everyone is involved, then the added value of the national coffee ecosystem that goes through complicated paths can be facilitated,” he concluded. (MW) (IAAS/RUM
