Coffee Cooperatives Research Articles

Internal governance challenges of young independent coffee cooperatives in south‐west Ethiopia

AbstractThis study analyses the internal governance practices of coffee marketing cooperatives in south‐west Ethiopia. The investigation argues that there is a need to go beyond democratic governance practices in order to understand the governance of these cooperatives working in multi‐stakeholder environments where the state is powerful and intervenes in their operations. The study concludes that the actions of internal and external actors have resulted in unique governance structures that profoundly influence their operations.

Shocked into side-selling? Production shocks and organic coffee farmers’ marketing decisions

Peru is the world’s leading exporter of organic coffee. Peruvian organic coffee is largely marketed through farmers’ cooperatives which have helped small farmers transition to organic production, earn price premiums over conventional coffee, and access extension services and finance. However, rising temperatures, increasingly volatile rainfall patterns, and the proliferation of pests and diseases make organic production riskier, as organic farmers cannot rely on agrochemicals to protect their farms against production shocks. If members of organic coffee cooperatives respond to production shocks by increasing their sales to private buyers (‘side-selling’), then cooperatives’ financial health could be threatened through reduced bargaining power with buyers and a decrease in scale economies. This paper explores the theoretical incentives for members to side-sell in response to production shocks and gives empirical evidence of how production shocks influence side-selling using panel data from members of two Peruvian specialty coffee cooperatives in 2013 and 2015. The study period coincides with a widespread production shock – the Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) epidemic of 2012/13 – that decimated coffee production in Peru. We find suggestive evidence that the incidence of CLR on farms is correlated with increased side-selling. Particularly, members with high risk tolerance and high levels of non-coffee income increase side-selling when affected by production shocks. This paper contributes to a growing literature on the determinants of side-selling in agricultural cooperatives by examining the role of production shocks, extending existing theoretical frameworks, and analyzing determinants using panel data methods.

Local food system and household responses to external shocks: the case of sustainable coffee farmers and their cooperatives in Western Honduras during COVID-19

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns (people confined to home, with movement restrictions) presented an external shock to livelihoods and food systems worldwide, most severely affecting vulnerable households in low-income countries. While evidence is available regarding how COVID-19 generally affected low-income countries, the specific dynamics of local food-system responses and sustainably-certified coffee farm households has not been examined, despite them being usually deemed to be more resilient to shocks. This research examines how local food systems in Honduras changed during lockdowns, how certified coffee households coped with the shock, especially food insecurity, and the potential role of coffee cooperatives in increasing households’ resilience under future shocks and stressors.MethodsWe applied a mixed-methods approach that combined a structured household survey with semi-structured qualitative interviews with 91 households, 6 cooperative representatives, and 18 food-system representatives.ResultsWe found that coffee-income-dependent households experienced greater food insecurity during lockdown than coffee households with diversified incomes. Before lockdown the local food system was highly dependent on external fresh food from outside the state. Food suppliers changed altered fresh-food procurement strategies, mostly to maintain fresh-food availability at the beginning of the pandemic. However, more than half the interviewed households lacked confidence regarding food security, amid rising food prices and local shortages. Certified coffee cooperatives supported their members by providing food assistance, cash transfers, and credit.DiscussionSome of these strategies are difficult to maintain where crises are recurrent and that may render households more vulnerable to future extreme events. Rather, coffee cooperatives could diversify and support their members in growing and marketing additional food crops. This could be a key approach for boosting local food security and strengthening the local food system.

Best Practices for Sustainability of Cooperatives and Coffee Farmers

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of best practices in sustainability for coffee cooperatives and coffee farmers in Central Aceh Regency in Aceh Province. These practices are carried out as local wisdom that has been carried out by the community for a long time. This local wisdom practice was subsequently adopted by coffee cooperatives in Central Aceh. This study is an case study. The method is carried out by using semi-structured interviews, and direct observation of sustainability activities included in the 17 SDGs programs in coffee cooperatives. This observation involved 10 coffee cooperatives in Central Aceh Regency who were willing to voluntarily provide information. The implementation of sustainability that is practiced is covered by 3 elements, namely economic, social and environmental. The emphasis is mainly on environmental awareness activities, conducting business based on morals and ethics, and improving the economy broadly and sustainably. The best practice of cooperative on achieving SDGs such as in activity distributing seeds, facilitating access roads to plantations, clean water facilities, pruning training, and public facilities. Other Sustainability activity programs include environmental programs, agricultural training programs, worker safety programs and garden road facility improvement programs.

The Role of a Women's Cooperative to Improve the Welfare of Women Coffee Farmers in Bener Meriah Regency, Indonesia

A women's cooperative is a form of women's empowerment in improving the economy of pre-prosperous women, where women are a marginalized group and face difficulty getting access to business capital loans, impacting their welfare. The presence of a women's cooperative is a solution to open access to capital provision for underprivileged women to improve their standard of living. Women's cooperatives have a very active role in the Bener Meriah Regency because they are managed directly by women, and all empowered members are women. Role theory and community empowerment theory are used to analyze the research results. The research paradigm used is the constructivism paradigm with a qualitative methodological approach. The results of this study suggest that cooperatives have an essential role in empowering the community, especially women as a marginalized group, to revive the household economy. The women's cooperative in Bener Meriah Regency is a cooperative in which all management is carried out by women, from coaching farmers to marketing agricultural products, especially the Gayo arabica coffee commodity. The women's cooperative addressed was Gayo Women's Coffee Cooperative (KOKOWAGAYO), which has been successful in empowering the economy of coffee farmers to carry out marketing to international markets through the export of coffee commodities.

Effect of Cost Efficiency Restructuring Strategy on Financial Performance of Coffee Cooperative Societies in Meru County

This study sought to assess the effect of cost efficiency restructuring strategy on organizational performance of coffee cooperative societies in Meru County. The study was guided by the resource based theory. The research targeted top management team in the 42 coffee cooperative societies in Meru County, the study adopted a descriptive research design with a sample size of 121 participants who were the managers of the cooperatives, the study utilized census to get information from the respondents. The data gathering tools were structured questionnaire including both open-ended and closed-ended questions, as well as a quantitative part using a 5-point Likert scale. Quantitative methods which included measures of central tendency and dispersion such as Mean and standard deviation, as well as inferential statistics were used for data analysis and interpretation. The data collected was presented through; Textual method a narrative description of data gathered and Tabular Method a systematic arrangement of information into columns and rows. Finally, SPSS Version 27 was used to process and analyze the collected data, and its results informed the report's discussion, conclusions, and recommendations. The study established that cost efficiency restructuring had a positive significant relationship with the financial performance of coffee cooperative societies in Meru County. The study concluded that elimination of non-profitable products/services and reduction of inventory, improvement of business strategy through innovation management enhances financial performance. The study recommended that the organization should consider purchase of new equipment to cater for most profitable market niche. The current study suggests that further studies should be done that focus on different turnaround strategies on organizational performance

Financial Management Practices and Coffee Cooperatives Performance in Ethiopia with Mediation of Human Capital

The study's main topic was how Ethiopian coffee cooperatives' financial management practices and organizational performance are mediated by human capital. The cross-sectional study with multistage sampling was employed by the researchers. KMO was employed as a test for adequate data. To evaluate the overall impact of the regression, total variance was used. To determine if the observable variables could adequately explain the latent determinants, confirmatory factor analysis was utilized. The model fitness and mediation analysis were both tested using SEM. According to study, there was a significant link based on the data because the KMO value of.906 was greater than 0.5 and the statistical threshold for the Bartlett's test was lower than 0.05. The researchers discovered that the CMIN/DF was less than 3.0, indicating model acceptance. The model being tested is compared using the Tucker Lewis Index (TLI). Mediation of Human capital has led to a roughly 75% boost in performance of Coffee Cooperatives. As a result, there is now some partial mediation between financial management practices and coffee cooperative performance.

Government Policy on Gayo Women's Coffee Cooperative Community in Bener Meriah Regency, Aceh Province, Indonesia

The Gayo Women's Coffee Cooperative (KOKOWA GAYO) is Southeast Asia's first women's cooperative to trade Gayo Arabica coffee to the international market. The marketing is to Europe and the United States through cooperation agreements to export coffee commodities with three international investors: Fairtrade, Ecocert, and Cafe Feminino Foundation. The annual contract to export Gayo Arabica coffee commodity is in the amount of 20 containers. This cooperative has 500 farmers trained to break the marketing chain from loan sharks to increase the income and economic welfare of the coffee farmers. The decision-making made by women in this cooperative requires government involvement in terms of policies that support the export of coffee commodities to international markets. Yet, there is still miscommunication between the government and the KOKOWAGAYO. Because of these problems, a data analysis was carried out using radical feminism theory and structural functionality. The research paradigm used was the critical paradigm with a qualitative methodological approach. The result of this study indicates that they carried out KOKOWAGAYO, a women's cooperative. Also, miscommunication occurred regarding government regulations on policies issued by the cooperative because it independently exported coffee commodities to international markets, and the government has issued regulations or policies related to the safeguarding of Gayo Arabica coffee authenticity through a Decree of Origin (SKA) and the Gayo Coffee Protection Society (MPKG).

Impact of Membership to Certified Coffee Marketing Cooperatives on the Income of Smallholder Farmers in Jimma Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Purpose: Coffee is one of the most important agricultural commodities with a significant contribution to the growth and well-functioning of Ethiopia’s economy, and to the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers and laborers. Despite its importance, smallholder coffee production and marketing performance have been unsatisfactory due to various reasons. The introduction of voluntary coffee certification schemes such as Fairtrade (FT) and Organic (Org) certification schemes through cooperatives are viewed as mechanisms to overcome the constraints smallholder farmers face in accessing high value coffee markets and earn better income. However, the impacts of these schemes on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers were not analyzed yet. The main purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of joining (FT, Org or dual FT-Org) certified coffee cooperatives on gross annual incomes earned by member farmers.
 Methodology: The study employed cross-sectional data collected from randomly selected sample smallholder coffee farmers through a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and simple inferential statistical tests (e.g., frequency, percentage, mean, t-and chi2-tests), and PSM methods were employed to analyze the data.
 Findings: Results of the descriptive statistics depict that 234 (62.07%) of the total 377 samples farmers were members of certified coffee marketing cooperatives. Among the cooperative members, 83 (35.47%), 84 (35.90%) and 67 (28.63%) were members of FT, Org and dual FT-Org certified coffee marketing cooperatives, respectively. The results of the binary probit model however show that the decisions to join certified coffee marketing cooperatives was significantly influenced by sex, marital status, total livestock holding size, total coffee land size (ha), log total quantity of coffee produced (kg), credit access, and walking distances to development agent’s office, coffee marketing center and all-weather road in minutes, respectively. The PSM analysis results show that membership to certified coffee marketing cooperatives has a positive and significant impact on average annual gross income (ETB) earned. The average gross annual income earned by coop member farmers was ETB 14639.15, which is by 36.51% higher than their counterpart non-coop member farmers. The difference is statistically significant at 1% probability level.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommended that Cooperatives should be encouraged to establish credit and saving units in their internal structure and/or work in collaboration with other saving and credit providing institutions (such as Cooperative Bank of Oromia) to be able to provide demand-driven credit services to member farmers.

Coffee cooperatives and cross-border side-sales in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: two sides of the same coin

Abstract In the Eastern DRC, coffee farmers combine the different sales outlets available to them. Cooperative members sell coffee to the cooperatives they belong to as well as to informal markets, which include a channel of illegal cross-border smuggling. In this conflict affected region, the informal cross-border markets persist irrespective of the presence of cooperatives. This paper seeks to understand the motivating factors of the side-selling behavior of coffee cooperative members. We study the coffee production and sales of 339 cooperative members in the region and use a double hurdle model to understand which farm characteristics relate to the side-selling behavior. The omnipresence of side-selling in the cooperatives suggest that the unstable political and economic environment is conducive to this co-existence of informal trade and cooperative membership. Side-selling seems a deliberate strategy by the farmers that is tolerated by the cooperatives. The results suggest that farmers who are in a more precarious situation are more inclined to engage with informal markets. This is further underscored by the effect of food insecurity and lack of credit. Hence, the informal market is a safety net that allows immediate payment of coffee in contrast to cooperatives that are more formally organized.

Authentication and discrimination of new Brazilian Canephora coffees with geographical indication using a miniaturized near-infrared spectrometer

New Brazilian Canephora coffees (Conilon and Robusta) of high added value from specific origins have been protected by geographical indication to guarantee their origin and quality. Recently, benchtop near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics has demonstrated its usefulness to discriminate them. It was the first study, however, and therefore the possibility exists to develop a new portable NIR method for this purpose. This work assessed a miniaturized NIR as a cheaper spectrometer to discriminate and authenticate new Brazilian Canephora coffees with certified geographical origins and to differentiate them from specialty Arabica. Discriminant chemometric and class modeling techniques have been applied and have obtained good predictive ability on external test sets. In addition, models with similar classification purpose were compared with those obtained in previous research carried out with benchtop NIR for the same samples, obtaining comparable results. In this context, the portable method was used as a laboratory technique and has the advantage of being cheaper than benchtop NIR spectrometer. Furthermore, it brings a high possibility to be implemented in small coffee cooperatives, industries or control agencies in the future that do not have high economic resources.

Influence of Market Development on Performance of Coffee Cooperative Societies in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

Organizations operating in the business environment require a plan to help them get a competitive edge and improve their performance. Evidently, the constantly rising level of competition and the influx of new enterprises into the cooperative societies sector make it necessary for every cooperative society to develop strategies in order to ensure better and more enhanced performance. Specifically, the goal of this study was to determine the impact of growth strategies on the performance of coffee cooperative societies in Tharaka Nithi County. This was guided by the objective; to examine the influence of market development on the performance of coffee cooperative societies in Tharaka Nithi County. It was based on agency theory. A descriptive study technique was used, with a target population of 340 respondents drawn from the 34 coffee cooperative societies in Tharaka Nithi County as the participants. The population was divided into three separate strata, each of which consisted of a large number of highly trained society employees who will work together as a team. In order to choose a representative sample of 204 respondents from each stratum, stratified random selection was used. In order to gather information, respondents were asked to complete self-administered questionnaires. Data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics like mean as well as standard deviation and inferential statistics which included correlation and regression analysis. The research discovered a significant positive association between diversification strategy, product development strategy, market penetration strategy, market development strategy and performance of coffee cooperative societies in Tharaka Nithi County. Its regression analysis found that the collective usage of growth strategies was responsible for 45.6 percent of the variations in performance of these coffee cooperative societies. Based on the findings, diversification strategy had the largest impact on performance followed by market penetration while market development and product development strategy had the least influence on performance of coffee cooperative societies in Tharaka Nithi County. It is therefore, recommended that managers and shareholders of the cooperative societies that are yet to adopt growth strategies should adopt them to remain competitive and profitable in this turbulent business environment.

The Impact of Capability on Cooperative Performance and Sustainability: A Case Study of West Java Coffee Farmers Cooperatives

The industrial revolution in the agricultural sector is faced with demographic challenges (ageing), so intelligent technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and augmented reality are strategic choices. The application of information technology has a direct or indirect impact on Indonesia's agricultural sector, so coffee agribusiness cooperatives' information and communication technology (ICT) is also increasingly needed to respond to market demand. Along with the development of automation, physical, cyber systems and IoT, coffee cooperatives need to be ready and adapt to the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 in capturing market demand opportunities, value chains, and the added value of coffee agribusiness. ICT's presence can improve the performance and institutional sustainability of coffee farmers in rural areas, including cooperatives. Performance is a description of the achievement of organizational tasks to realize the goals, objectives, mission and vision of the organization and its business. The performance of the cooperative describes the services provided to its members and the community/farmers as measured by using indicators to see the working mechanism of the organization and its business that has been carried out and to determine the achievement of the objectives obtained. Meanwhile, the ability to innovate is essential, especially the use of ICT, which is deemed necessary to support the performance and sustainability of coffee cooperatives, so that cooperatives can compete, be stable, or survive in the era of increasing free competition. . Quantitative descriptive method with Linear Regression analysis was used to identify the effect of cooperative capability on the performance and sustainability of cooperatives in several coffee cooperatives in West Java. The study's results found that the power of the cooperative did not significantly affect the performance of the Coffee Cooperative. Still, the capability of the cooperative had a positive and significant effect on the sustainability of the Coffee Cooperative. At the same time, the performance of the cooperative has a positive and significant impact on the sustainability of the coffee cooperative. The ability of cooperatives has a positive and significant effect on sustainability mediated by the performance of the Coffee Cooperative in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. This study recommends increasing the capabilities of cooperatives in membership, management, and business models to become sustainable cooperatives based on information technology to achieve added value from market-driven coffee products.

The Effect of Performance on the Sustainability of Coffee Farmers’ Cooperatives in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 in West Java Indonesia

This research evaluates the effect the industrial revolution era 4.0 has had on the performance and sustainability of coffee farmer cooperatives, especially in the West Java region, considering that West Java is a coffee center area that is starting to be taken into account in Indonesia and the world in general, this is evidenced by the increasing number of farmer cooperatives coffee in the West Java region. One of the most monumental effects of the industrial revolution 1.0 was the birth of the British cooperative in Rochdale, the world’s first modern cooperative. The industry continues to develop, cooperatives continue to adapt and try to continue to develop in accordance with technological advances, especially now that the industrial revolution 4.0 has entered, which emphasizes information technology, especially the use of the internet. However, there has been no previous research examining the use of information technology in coffee farmer cooperatives, especially in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, even though this information technology is very important in the development of cooperatives today. Quantitative descriptive method with SEM analysis was used to identify the effect of cooperative capability on the performance and sustainability of cooperatives in several coffee cooperatives in West Java. The study’s results found that the power of the cooperative did not significantly affect the performance of the Coffee Cooperative. Still, the capability of the cooperative had a positive and significant effect on the sustainability of the Coffee Cooperative. At the same time, the performance of the cooperative had a positive and significant impact on the sustainability of the coffee cooperative. The ability of cooperatives has a positive and significant effect on sustainability mediated by the performance of the Coffee Cooperative in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. This study recommends increasing the capabilities of cooperatives in membership, management, and business models to become sustainable cooperatives based on information technology to achieve added value from market-driven coffee products. The results of the study show that the respondents perceive that the cooperative’s performance has a positive effect on their sustainability. Improving the performance of cooperatives in terms of (1) productivity, (2) effectiveness, (3) quality, and (4) achievement can be regarded as having a direct impact on the Coffee Cooperative’s long-term viability. The industrial revolution in the agricultural sector is facing demographic challenges (ageing), so intelligent technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and augmented reality are strategic choices. The application of information technology has a direct or indirect positive impact on Indonesia’s agricultural sector. Cooperatives in coffee agribusiness is also increasingly needed to respond to market demand by applying Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

CHALLENGES AND MANAGERIAL STRATEGIES OF COFFEE COOPERATIVES FROM THE HUATUSCO REGION IN MEXICO: A LEADERS' PERSPECTIVE

Coffee cooperatives from the Huatusco region in Mexico have played an important role in helping coffee farmers in this region maintain economic viability in the midst of Mexico’s economic crisis and the international crisis of the coffee sector over time. While these types of organizations have played an important role, not all of these organizations have survived over time. Using information from interviews with leaders of five longeval coffee producer cooperatives in the Huatusco coffee region, this study tries to identify factors that could explain the longevity and long-term sustainability of these organizations. Additionally, using information from these interviews, we evaluate challenges that could put at risk the long-term sustainability of these associations and strategies to overcome these challenges from the cooperative’s leadership perspective. Findings from this study suggest the motivations behind the creation of these producer associations that goes beyond accessing government resources, an institutional structure where there is a democratic process behind the election of leaders, leadership positions have a definite term, and association strategies to increase member engagement could explain the longevity of these organization. Regarding challenges the cooperatives would be facing in the future, the aging population of growers is perceived by cooperative leaders as one of the major challenges they will be facing in the future. Increasing youth involvement in the cooperatives through training and educational activities was perceived by cooperative leaders as a strategy to overcome this challenge.

Private- Cooperatives Synergy in the Face of Agricultural Policy Changes: Moral Hazard Behavior Ameliorated? An Experience from Coffee Cooperatives in Southern Highlands, Tanzania

The private sector is essential for improving the coffee sector by supporting farmers through cooperatives and groups. The study objective is to assess the impact of policy changes on moral hazard and private-farmers investment synergy. The present study used data collected from coffee farmers and cooperatives in Mbeya, Songwe and Ruvuma in Tanzania. Analyses were achieved by using descriptive statistics and difference-in-difference (DiD) at both the farm level and cooperative level. The results indicate that the 2017/2018 government policy changes ameliorated moral hazard and free-riding behaviors among farmers, owing to repay loans. Cooperatives with contractual arrangements with private investors suffered from moral hazards attributable to policy changes whereby the decline in the coffee collection was 33,040 kg (with an average treatment effect on the treated (ATT)) of coffee parchment, whereas, at the farmers’ level, farmers reduced the collection of coffee with an ATT of 24.6 kg. In addition, because of these changes, some central pulse units were found to be non-functional, while others were under-utilized. In this regard, such moral hazard behavior among coffee farmers destabilized cooperatives, as well as the existing synergy between private investors and cooperatives. It is recommended that before policy or any institutional change, it is important to consider strategies and paths to reduce the moral hazard and free-riding behaviors of any stakeholder to improve market efficiency. For the coffee sector, this would include farmers collecting coffee from member cooperatives only. The government must consider having an effective institutional/policy change mechanism, in particular having a preparatory stage for policy change, to ensure that all contracts that have to be affected by such changes are reinforced properly to reduce unnecessary losses for any actor in the value chain. The government can facilitate or mediate disputes related to investments in agriculture, provide administrative support, and help negotiate compensation.

Analysis of Human Capital Mediation Requirement with Financial Management Practices for Coffee Cooperatives Sustainability in Ethiopia

The primary focus of the study was on how human capital mediates organisational performance and financial management practices in Ethiopian coffee cooperatives. The researchers used a cross-sectional study using multistage sampling. KMO was used as a test for having enough data. Total variance was used to assess the overall effect of the regression. To assess if the observable variables could properly explain the latent determinants, confirmatory factor analysis was applied. The model fitness and mediation analysis were both tested using SEM. The KMO value of.906 was larger than 0.5 and the statistical cutoff for the Bartlett's test was lower than 0.05, according to the study, indicating that there was a meaningful association based on the data. The researchers found that the CMIN/DF was below 3.0, which suggests model was d in fitness indices. The Tucker Lewis Index (TLI) is used to compare the model under test. The performance of coffee cooperatives has increased by almost 75% as a result of human capital mediation. The performance of coffee cooperatives and financial management practices are now somewhat mediated.

Business management and sustainable development of coffee farming cooperatives in Peru: Cajamarca case

Cooperatives can be considered one of the key drivers of economic and social development in the world. Operating under a vision of solidarity, they have a socio-economic system where people voluntarily join to work together and obtain common benefits. However, their inadequate business management and corruption cases, in addition to the emblematic cases of crisis and the subsequent liquidation of emblematic cooperatives in Peru, have caused society to lose confidence in a model that aims to work for the welfare of the less fortunate. In this framework, the research aims to determine the influence of business management on the sustainable development of agricultural coffee cooperatives in the province of San Ignacio, department of Cajamarca in the 2017-2020 period. The methodology of the study was quantitative, bivariate, descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational, and applied. The instrument used was a questionnaire applied to 67 people, including directors, managers, and line managers of cooperatives. The results showed that the functions of planning, organization, staff integration, management, and control were key factors in achieving sustainable development in the coffee cooperatives for the period studied. It is concluded that the cooperative model is an instrument that enables the social, economic, and environmental development of the territories when it is professionally managed.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN'S COFFEE COOPERATIVES (KOKOWA) TOWARD THE WELFARE OF COFFEE FARMERS IN BUKIT DISTRICT, BENER MERIAH REGENCY

The existence of cooperatives in coffee production, centers is expected to support and help the economy of coffee farmers. One of the best coffee producing areas in Indonesia is Aceh Province, this is proven because coffee produced in Aceh has been exported to various countries such as Europe. America and countries in Asia. Aceh coffee which is better known internationally is the type of Gayo Arabica coffee because it has a distinctive aroma and taste. (Tambarta, 2016) The name Gayo Arabica coffee arises because the best-tasting Arabica coffee comes from the Gayo highlands, namely Central Aceh and Bener Meriah districts.
 This research uses descriptive quantitative research methods. Quantitative descriptive is a method that describes the research topic with variables that can be measured quantitatively (Sugiyono, 2011). The research was conducted at the Women's Coffee Cooperative (KOKOWA) Bener Meriah Regency. This location was determined intentionally or purposively because the KOKOWA Cooperative is the only cooperative whose members are all housewives and coffee farmers (having dual roles). The method used in analyzing the data is descriptive qualitative analysis using a Likert scale instrument, which describes several question items arranged in a questionnaire and each question is given a score equal to the respondent's choice. Likert scale is a scale used to measure attitudes, opinions and perceptions of a group of people about social events or phenomena. This research produces TKT 1 with output targets in the form of (1) scientific publications in international research journals with accepted status, (2) HKI research reports with granted status, (3) publication of activities in print or online media.

The socio‐economic impact of certification schemes in conflict‐affected regions: The case of arabica coffee in the Eastern DRC

AbstractThe paper investigates the benefits of certification of cooperatives in conflict‐affected areas. We study whether and how certification may contribute to attenuate the impact of conflicts on the members of coffee cooperatives in the Eastern DRC. We use an inverse probability weighted difference‐in‐difference approach to study data collected between December 2017 and October 2019 from four NGO‐supported cooperatives. Two of these cooperatives got organic certification in 2018, of which one got an additional Small Producers Symbol (SPP) certification in 2018. Certified cooperatives allow Arabica coffee producers to access markets and buffer against drops in market prices. Results indicate that certified cooperatives were better able to resist the international price drop than non‐certified cooperatives and the alternative informal markets. The results also suggest that certified cooperative members increased their sales to the cooperative instead of turning to informal side‐selling. We find a decrease in reported food deficits by the members of certified cooperatives and an increase in the importance of coffee in their household's income. We conclude that certification is an effective way forward for smallholder coffee producers and cooperatives in unstable regions.