STiR coffee and tea magazine

42 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 3, 2022 (June / July) In 2016 and 2017 ACTL organized the new high-profile Festival Kafe Timor to celebrate and promote Timor-Leste's coffee sector. It also estab- lished lab facilities to assess coffee quality, provide training on sensory analysis, and organize high- profile coffee quality and barista competitions to encourage excellence. The Festival primarily targeted local farmers and industry stakeholders. Around 60 coffee samples were entered into the coffee quality competitions in each year, and sev- eral thousand people participated in the various festival events. International coffee specialists in- cluding coffee traders and buyers participated in the festival at their own expense. ACTL and other industry stakeholders also work closely with the government to prepare Timor-Leste's first national coffee sector develop- ment plan. Preparation of the plan confirms the need for increased investment in the sector and further improvements in coordination. The Min- istry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) is the designated public agency for development of cof- fee and other agroforestry crops. The government identified the coffee sector as a strategic priority and public investment in farm rehabilitation and expansion has increased since 2015. However, farm rehabilitation efforts remain fragmented and are well below the levels needed to achieve sustained and widespread improvements in small- holder productivity. Some of the key foundations of an effective national system for farm rehabilitation are still being established. MAF has a network of exten- sion workers -- but these staff are responsible for supporting production for all crops, livestock, and aquaculture. This is an extremely challenging mandate and it is generally accepted that extension services need to be improved. MAF has identi- fied training partnerships with NGOs and private businesses as a model with excellent potential for the coffee sector. However, there is currently no shared system for tracking the replanting and reha- bilitation of coffee farms or the provision of train- ing. There is also no established system for engag- ing businesses and NGOs to implement public funded programs. This makes it difficult to assess resource requirements, plan and implement reha- bilitation and training programs, evaluate the ef- ficacy of different training models, and maximize the returns on public investment. The absence of a shared framework for as- sessing the quality of coffee at each stage in pro- duction and processing is another notable gap in sector management. Clearly defined quality stan- dards would facilitate training and communica- tion across the supply chain and could be used by businesses to provide clear incentives for quality improvement. Timor-Leste benefits from clearer and more coherent communications with specialty coffee importers, roasters and consumers in major consuming markets such as Australia, the Euro- pean Union, Japan, Korea, US. The project has three principal areas of focus: *More productive coffee and agroforestry systems. The project helps households to rehabilitate and improve agroforestry systems on land that they own or occupy with consent of the state and their community. Production systems are being strengthened through establishment of 100 farm level demonstration plots. These farmer-managed plots enable local level demonstration of relevant technologies in conditions which high relevance and relatability for local households. The dem- onstration plots serve as hubs for the training of 5,000 farm households and at least 40% of the people trained are women. Training is provided regularly over several harvest cycles to ensure knowledge transfer. These trainings are delivered through partnerships with the private sector com- panies who leverage their existing supply chain re- lationships. The project works with local financial institutions and businesses that procure coffee to improve the financial inclusion of participating households. Around 1,000 of the poorest house- holds receive a conditional cash transfer through a cash for work scheme to facilitate successful adoption of productivity improving technologies. Eligibility for the cash for work scheme is deter- mined using a proxy means test that is developed in partnership with Timor-Leste's Ministry of So- cial Solidarity. *Improved quality and stronger market linkages. The project supports annual coffee quality competi- tions, training, and communications that are linked to Festival Kafe Timor. This helps to raise aware- ness and understanding of quality improvement. The festival is promoted as forum for developing new market linkages. The project also supports Timor-Leste's participation in leading international trade shows for the specialty coffee market. *Improved coffee industry management and coordination. The project supports the design and initial deploy- ment of a farm information management system. The project develops national quality standards and work with the Government, ACTL, and other stakeholders to establish a platform for regular sharing of knowledge, plus information related to productivity and quality improvement. The project's primary goal is a simple one: Sus- tained increases in value creation through coffee and agroforestry production. The one primary im- pact is sustained growth in per-capita incomes and the elimination of extreme poverty by 2030. [Coffee producers'] income is highly seasonal, and the incidence of household poverty is significantly higher in coffee producing areas.

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