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Indonesia is the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world, but falling yields and rising domestic consumption are making it increasingly difficult for the country to produce enough coffee to meet demand. As Belinda Yohana reports for Nikkei Asia, farmers warn that the country risks having to import more coffee than it exports over the next few years unless more is done to increase production.
“The domestic market has grown tremendously as we’re now receiving far more orders from local coffee shops than in previous years,” said Wedya Julianti of the Kawisari coffee plantation in East Java. Julianti said that Kawisari previously exported much of its harvest; now, the farm sells almost its entire production domestically.
Indonesia produces only a quarter as much coffee per hectare as nearby Vietnam, mainly due to higher costs for fertilizer and seeds, an aging workforce, and climate change. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the country’s coffee output fell 24% during 2023-24 because of bad weather.
“Our robusta crops remain highly vulnerable to extreme weather, particularly heavy rains during harvest,” Julianti said. “Without government support for research and fertilizers, many Indonesian coffee farmers won’t survive, hurting the country’s coffee productivity.”
Read the full story from Nikkei Asia here.
