Implemented since July 31 2019, a collaboration project between Institute for Society Research and Development (IPPM) and Ritma Green for Kurra coffee development funded by New Zealand Embassy (HF) in Indonesia  is completed this end of June. Entitled Community-Based Sustainable Kurra Coffee Practices for Climate Change Adaptation and Livelihoods Improvement, the project trained the coffee farmers Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and facilitated some climate change adaptation and mitigation technologies and practices on coffee like climate-tolerant seedlings, Rurak (hole to restore nutrients, and shade trees. Furthermore, it granted coffee machinery to local Village-Owned Enterprise (Bumdes) as well as enhanced business capacity of the Bumdes managers.

The one year project is managed to improve local smallholder farmers’ knowledge and skills on GAP and CSA both on-farm and off-farm. Furthermore, it increases coffee farms’ productivity and resilience to climate change impacts. Development of new specialty coffee called Kurra coffee is another outcome of the project where local community has also been producing green beans, ground coffee, and roasted coffee whose market reaches some provinces. A local youth-preneur developing a coffee nursery business supplying coffee in West Sulawesi province is also the positive impact of the project. Moreover, local community is now expanding to coffee shop business to showcase and add value to their products. In general, the project has assisted local community to develop a business based on their village’s potential whose multiplier effects later have generated employment and improved livelihoods of the village community.

Although the project is completed, Ritma Green will continue to its partnership with coffee SMEs in Kurra village employing social entrepreneurship model to scale-up, replicate, and sustain what the project has achieved. Our next plan is to introduce and facilitate biogas and solar dryer dome for coffee adaptation and mitigation practices to climate change.