Sumatra

PPKGO -Gayo Organic Coffee Farmer's Association

The Persatuan Petani Kopi Gayo Organik, or PPKGO, is located near Takengon in the Gayo Highlands region of Aceh Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The cooperative has over 1,600 members of which 20% are women and spans 32 communities. This region is renowned as the largest producer of Arabica coffee in Southeast Asia, but also as the site of the seemingly ceaseless civil war between Acehnese separatists and the Indonesian military.

PPKGO's co-op's membership is predominantly of the devoutly muslim Gayo ethnic group (50%), but also includes a diverse span of Javanese (30%), Acehnese (15%), Padang (3%) and Batak (2%) and various religons. This diversity has strengthened the cooperative - an incredible feat in the midst of such intercultural strife in the region. PPKGO was the first, and still the only, Fair Trade certified coffee cooperative in Indonesia.

Coop members live in an environmentally sensitive region in and around the buffer zone to Gunung Leuser National Park at 1,100-1,500 meters, an area that contains critical watersheds and sanctuaries for endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger. Producers are dedicated to producing high-quality 100% organic and shade grown coffee while ensuring their production practices conserve resources and preserve the biologically diverse ecosystem in which they live. They have developed a "special preparation" for Cooperative Coffees that brings out the wild characteristics of the Sumatran coffees. It is one of Cooperative Coffees best selling coffees.

Significant revenues earned from selling to the Fair Trade and organic markets has allowed PPKGO to contribute to a wide variety of programs, contributing to the advancement of PPKGO's production, processing and quality, as well as local community development. These investments include:

Investment in local community development and local infrastructure
• Constructed potable water system benefiting more than 1,500 people in three communities.
• Assisted farmers in building and repairing 34 homes.
• Established a credit union to extend small loans to families in the cooperative.
• Provided supplemental financing for the construction of three local schools
• Constructed new roads and helped repair/upgrade existing ones.
• Refurbished area Mosques.
• Constructed soccer (football) fields for local communities.
• Provide ongoing support for local orphans and widows.
• 150 PPKGO members have participated in the Hajj, a life-long goal for Muslims.

Investment in coffee production, processing and quality improvements
• Rehabilitation of old farms and purchase of new ones.
• Development of community nurseries to provide improved and grafted coffee and shade tree seedlings.
• Initiation of a mechanical weed cutter program.
• Establishment of 2 cupping labs one at PPKGO's headquarters in Takengon and the other at the export processing plant in Medan.
• Purchase of five wet mills, moisture meters, and 25 vehicles for coffee transport in five communities.
• Promotion of income diversification projects for farmers to grow additional cash crops, such as vanilla, potatoes, and bananas.
• Maintenance of coffee seedling nurseries and distribution of seedlings to rehabilitate farms.

More pictures