Coffee Chains Network and Ecosystem Rupture
‘Malang Coffee’, also known as ‘Java Robusta’ on global markets, is one of the historical commodities that significantly shaped the ‘Malang Raya’ landscape over time. Stretches from Dutch colonialism era during cultuurstelsel, a cultivation system imposed by Dutch to punish Javanese people after Java War 1825-1830 led by Diponegoro and caused the Netherland Kingdom treasury near empty. In the brink of bankruptcy, a drastic act must be needed, so cultuurstelsel in just a matter of years intended to restore the kingdom's cash balance, and more then that, even can build massive infrastructure development across the archipelago—although those system drive innumerable Javanese people death and suffering, primarily caused by famine and food scarcity.
Coffee as a export based commodity, together with other colonial plantation commodities (such as tea and sugarcane) significantly functioned as a backbone of the colonialism system, relying on smallholder farmers and its natural ecosystem. Thus, decades later these constructs still remain, such as a network system and its supply chains: From upstream to the downstream there is no significant change—but slightly change downstream because of shifted consumption trends and consumer behaviour. During the year of 2020-2022, a specific event of rupture happened, down spiking coffee productivity until 80% and raising coffee prices reaching 300%. A marking point for the existing coffee agricultural business model—which stems from the colonial plantations system—actually has a certain definitive threshold.
In collaboration between JIGAANG+ and TIMEO ID, we conduct preliminary studies to know: How feasible is coffee business in Malang Raya? In doing so, we prepared a pre-feasibility study to identify what condition of networks and coffee commodity supply chains in ‘Malang Raya’, and analyse what kind of predetermines and its basic construction that shaped its trajectories and challenges. And later in the next phase, this pre-feasibility study can be continued into more detailed and comprehensive analysis.
This study primarily uses a multi-scalar analysis through mapping and multi-layered overlay analysis using GIS (Geographic Information System). At first, we set up a macro scale as a basic unit of analysis based on these questions: what exactly is ‘Malang Coffee’? What are the ‘Malang Raya’ boundaries? Is it followed by administrative boundaries, or constructed by a multilayered notion of things and specificities?
To answer those questions, we began with collecting a bulk of data set: satellite imagery (covers several administrative areas: Malang City, Batu City, Malang Regency, Blitar Regency, Lumajang, Probolinggo, Pasuruan, Mojokerto, Jombang, and Kediri) as a base map to generate more thematic maps: historical land use and land cover map, topographic map, hydrological map, historical railway map, ecoregion map, climate map, coffee plantations map, East Java coffee farmer data (a spreadsheet consisting of number of farmers, production tools, production, productivity, plantation area, etc), and lastly coffee production and productivity map (both Arabica and Robusta variety). Along with it, we conduct literature studies about the coffee supply chain in Malang (Malang City and Malang Regency), from upstream to the downstream. All of those data then overlaid and analysed iteratively and projected into a conclusive study area.
Parameterised by that study area we conducted a series of in depth interviews through a snowballing method—each interview led us to another key persons and locations. This interview has a double function, to validate our mapping and collecting more detailed data and capture actual conditions on the ground.
From that series of mapping analysis we find that ‘Malang Coffee’ was defined primarily by a historical basis–starting with the Dutch Indies colonial plantation agenda. Coffee began to take shape as an agricultural industry, starting with the establishment of Proefstation Midden en Oost Java (Central and East Java Research Station) in 1900 located in Banyuasin, Malang. However, coffee in Indonesia was the introduction species, like the colonialist who brought it, it cannot endure the tropical conditions with its humid climate and its fungal disease—an Arabica and Liberica, the former introduced coffee variety, infected by coffee leaf rust (hemileia vastatrix) and reduce coffee productivity on many plantations in Dutch Indies. Situated by that, Robusta variety—a coffee seed from Belgia—was introduced as a pilot project on that research station, and later developed and expanded into coffee plantations in other areas, primarily on the Malang’s surrounding mountain slopes.
Expansion of the colonial coffee plantations primarily facilitated by a railway, connecting the four mountainous areas: Malang’s Southern Karst, Kawi, Semeru, and Bromo, to the city center, and then exported to the global markets. Each area has a train station as a collecting warehouse, such as Kepanjen Station, Dampit Station, and Pakis Station. This trajectory later constructs the present coffee supply chain in Malang; the coffee farmers and plantations map indicate that many coffee plantations and farmers still exist in those areas.
Malang Raya landscape has a high suitability for coffee plantations. Each plantation is located in a specific ecoregion, and overall supply chains designed based on geological and hydrological characteristics of this region. A topographical condition composed of a relatively flat and wide area (where Malang City is located) and surrounded by a number of mountains, such as Mt. Semeru, Mt. Bromo, Mt. Kawi, Mt. Kelud, Mt. Arjuno, Mt. Argowayang and Southern Karst mountain areas—a geological characteristic that is shaped like a ‘bowl’, as if every resource is ‘self-collected' from the bowl edge to the base.
At the edge, coffee production primarily laid its foundation on smallholder farmers, generally with an agroforestry plantations model, relying on ecosystem services dependency provided by the mountain slope ecosystem. BPS Jawa Timur (Badan Pusat Statistik Jawa Timur/East Java Central Agency of Statistics) stated that more than 80 percent coffee production originated from small plantations, characterised formally as under 2 hectares called ‘perkebunan rakyat’. From the coffee production map year 2018, the highest coffee production is located in two particular areas sparse in some districts: Malang Southern Karst by its robusta (1336-2387 tonne) and Semeru-Bromo mountain slope for arabica (88-234 tonne). This area is known as ‘Amstirdam’, an abbreviation for most productive coffee plantations districts: Ampelgading, Sumbermanjing Wetan, Tirtoyudo, and Dampit. This resembles the Dutch Colonial trace about its potentiality in this region, and still the same in the present day. In Dampit district, there is a biggest coffee production offtaker and export company PT. Asal Jaya, claims to have a 4.500 tonne per month coffee production. Known in the local market as ‘Dampit Coffee’, originated from informal consensus among traders: characterised by a nutty and cacao flavour perception–although there is no definite standard, it marks Dampit district as one of important coffee producers in Indonesia.
Coffee plantations are usually located on ‘green belt’, a border area that functions as a buffer for the state's conservation area. These situations make smallholder farmers often facing a tense situation and limiting their livelihood opportunity. Tenurial problems sometimes appear and culminate in conflicts, or be solved into other plantation management models, such as ‘thetelan’—a plantation system that puts farmers in grey areas: burdened by cultivation responsibility but limiting its possession and rights, just for plantation yields, but not coffee trees or its lands. BPS and its statistics does not differentiate ‘perkebunan rakyat’ by its tenurial rights, but represents its extractive potentiality.
Coffee commodity supply chain in Malang does not appear in linear trajectory, but an overlapped network of chains. In general, it relies on mountain slope areas as an upstream, and distributed in diverse downstreams—neither domestically or exported on the global markets. However it can be characterised generally: farmer producers - village level distributor - district level distributor - regional level distributor - exporters. It's actually very diverse at the local level, depending on location and context, situated by social, economic, culture, ecosystem and historical factors. But overall, Malang’s coffee agricultural business models are heavily characterised by a sorting and grading system, neither quantitively or qualitatively, primarily driven by market dynamics—such as specialty or single origin trends for arabica, and house blend products for robusta, sparsely distributed by many traders: small, big or exporters. These kinds of supply chains constitutively specified upstream areas with downstream tendencies.
From several in depth interviews we find there is a dramatic decline of coffee productivity during 2020 until 2022. A climate anomaly, La Nina struck coffee plantations with high rainfall and led to crop failure. In five investigation locations, Srimulyo village (located on Southern Malang karst mountain area), Sumberdem village (Kawi mountain slope), Taji village (Bromo mountain slope), and Malang City (traders and exporters) we find that production decline followed by coffee prices hike until 300 percent in just one month. In the downstream there is coffee scarcity, although the high demand, and in the upstream met with farmer frustration. In Srimulyo productivity declined from 1.2 tonnes to 0.8 tonnes per hectare. Sumberdem faced the same declining situation, coffee productivity down spiking until 80 percent. In Taji, there is a 50 percent decline in arabica productivity, but surprisingly not for robusta. A situation that forces traders to substitute their products with other coffee sources, like Sumatra, or reduce its quantity and quality.
On a global scale, coffee production also faces the same crises. Climate crisis changes coffee plantations' suitability around the world. Indonesia itself is categorized as marginally suitable in 2050—there are many regions in Indonesia not suitable for coffee plantations anymore, including Malang region. Climate anomalies, such as La Nina and El Nino, can be more frequent because of climate change and simultaneously opened a pandora box:. Based on our findings, there are other existing problems that are deepening this crisis, specifically long term coffee business models and actor practices that rely on its heavily extractive processes.
A process that relies on intensive external input, such as pesticide, herbicide and insecticide on the coffee plantation. A choice driven by a downstream system that only sees productivity as a yield of bulk outputs, exceeding its reproductivity of the ecosystem threshold. A practice that caused ecosystem services loss, plantations degradation, worsened by lack of technical capacity, predatory business competition, and market driven valuation of the commodity. A value that does not include reproductive and restoration of the ecosystem—a predetermined factor that truthfully sustains coffee productivity since the colonial era.
In Taji village, different from other places, robusta coffee productivity is still stable during this crisis. Situated by relatively functioning ecosystem services adjacent to Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, Taji’s coffee practice is heavily maintained by an intensive approach. But, exceptionally designing its own supply chain and setting some production limitations. An approach that distinctly separates Taji’s practices with other locations and its impact—some farmers neglected their plantations, or converted it with more valuable produce, such as industrial timber woods. The impact of climate change has led into a vicious cycle of conditions that only can be solved through a comprehensive and holistic approach beyond its historical existing coffee business model.
In this study we conclude that adaptability of the climate crisis is the main challenge that is not considered by all actors in all locations. Problematization and its strategies are partial and tend to be arbitrary so that resource allocation often is not effective. In the plantation level, planting, nurturing, maintaining, and harvesting is too focused on technical aspects, on contrary agroecosystem resilience factor was neglected. Ecosystem services as the main sustainable factors of coffee plantations cannot be seen just on the individual plot, but must be comprehensively restored on the regional and community level. Along with it, coffee business models that are too focused on yielding bulk of output driven by market behaviour, must be shifted into more regenerative practices, that include reproductive cost as a part of commodity valuation.
In the end, we compose a list of future primary challenges and considerations: First, increasing the adaptability level in the climate crisis. Second, agroecosystem resilience through improvement of the productivity, stability, sustainability, and equitability–particularly between social systems and regional ecosystems. Third, restoring ecosystem services conditions such as provisions services, supporting services, and regulating services in each local context of the coffee plantations. Fourth, comprehensive reading and more detailed investigations on the coffee agricultural business actors that significantly contribute to the ecosystem ruptures in the local and global level. Fifth, conduct a modeling scenario of the hazard potential caused by climate change, such as flood, drought, particularly in the La Nina and El Nino climate anomaly situations to formulate mitigation scenarios.
