Indonesians are no strangers to coffee. Coffee-drinking culture has been a part of Indonesia’s identity.
One of the best locally-produced coffee in Indonesia is West Papua’s coffee. It gained popularity over the years, and the price is higher than Kopi Toraja from South Celebes.
As of now, West Papua is most famous for its ability to produce one of the best Arabica coffee. However, West Papua has an excellent chance to develop its Robusta.
Coffee Industry in Papua
It is said that the emergence of coffee plantations in West Papua took place in the early 20th century. However, there was also a story about how the Netherlands brought the seed back in the 1890s.
With some help from bible missionaries, natives of West Papua used to rely on coffee as their income. In 1959, they even scored a total of 970 tons of coffee. The rise of production numbers is inseparable from the missionaries opening the coffee market for them.
Even so, it went back to square one when the missionaries returned to their homeland. Coffee farmers were confused as to how to sell their coffee. And soon enough, the coffee plantations and their equipment are neglected.
In 2016, the government of Indonesia strove to rebuild the coffee scene in Papua. Their efforts are fruitful as today, coffee is one of the most valuable commodities in Papua, along with yam, cocoa and seaweed1.
The Potential of Robusta Coffee in West Papua
It is not a secret how famous Arabica coffee from West Papua is. Their Papua Wamena got the title as one of the best coffees in Indonesia, along with Celebes’ Toraja, Aceh’s Gayo, West Java’s Malabar and East Nusa Tenggara’s Flores.
Meanwhile, the market for Papua Robusta coffee is smaller than Arabica. However, the potential is there and there has been an escalation in the public interest in Papua Robusta.
The statement is nowhere near empty. At the Papua Coffee Festival back in November 2019, Titus Rawai represented Ambaidiru coffee farmers and brought more than a hundred kilograms of coffee, in green bean and powdered form. He sold all of the powdered coffee successfully.
A year earlier, robusta coffee from Ambaidiru Village went on an auction at the same event. A kilogram of the coffee clocked a price for Rp1.125.000- and was the second-highest bidding after Kopi Tiom’s arabica typical.
Robusta Plantation in West Papua
There are four famous robusta coffee in West Papua. That is Ambadairu Village in Kepulauan Yapen Regency, Anggi Coffee from Arfak, Agimuga Coffee from Mimika, and Kopi Lembah Grime from Jayapura. However, only Ambadairu, Mimika and Jayapura have their own plantation.
Uniquely, the coffee in these plantations is planted with agroforestry methods. Most of them are grown organically and treated as wild plants, which is the best environment for robusta to grow.
Consequently, that kind of method does guarantee the taste but doesn’t guarantee the number of production. The plantations need a lot of care to increase their production and fulfil the market’s needs.
Strategy to Push Papua Coffee Into the Spotlight
Ever since 2004, the government has been pushing robusta clones BP 42 and BP 528 to increase the number of production.
The support goes hand in hand with 2021 Agricultural Development Planning strategies stated by the Ministry of Agriculture, which includes four steps:
- Increasing productivity by increasing production and the quality of human resources.
- Build a low-cost agriculture plan by cooperating with financing institutions.
- Modernisation of agriculture by the usage of mechanical tools.
- Expand plantations and their water supply.
- Implementing a green economy program that pursues economic growth that is environmentally friendly and socially impactful
Such strategies are essential for West Papua to bounce back from the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted all activities. It could also push the impact of global warming threatening the whole world.
