Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491371
STiR tea & coffee industry international 35 Tea plucking had been completed in the morn- ing, so our team retired to Wawan's modest home in a nearby village. Considering the dress and ma- terial acquisitions seen in the tiny village, located several kilometers from the tea fields, one realizes these industrious men and women are neither very prosperous nor living close to the poverty line. There were big screen TV's, fridges, cell phones, indoor plumbing, kitchens, and ensuite bathrooms in homes. Many farmers owned motorcycles; a few drove old cars or trucks. Wawan is proud that his 21-year old son stud- ies chemistry at university in Bandung, and he ex- pected his daughter, Dela, and a second son, in junior high school, to do likewise. His wife, Teuis, cares for the children at home. It is unlikely any of his offspring will follow them into tea. The family survives on income from his one hectare tea garden, which his father established in 1978. The garden produces 5,000 kilos of assamica that he sells for $4,300 annually. Membership in the cooperative gives farmers access to fertilizer subsidies, access to formal train- ing in best farming practices, and field training by extension agents. Wawan arranges the collection of green tea leaf from members and transports the harvest to a bought-leaf factory (BLF) with which the group has a contract. From that point in the value chain, the farmers relinquish financial inter- est in the product. These smallholders do not own a factory, so their relationship with factory own- er PT Kabepe Chakra is a crucial asset, without which they would not be able to dispose profitably of their tea. The factory makes Chinese- and Japa- nese-style green teas, buying leaves and also offer- ing technical support, no-interest loans and – most important – economic security through periods of global tea price fluctuation and uncertainty. Chakra contracts with groups of smallholders for each of its 15 company-owned factories. Farm- er farmer groups are comprised of 45 farmers. Chakra pays for third party certification for tea exported to Europe, the US, Australia, Russia, the Middle East, and Pakistan. The remaining 15% is sold to local companies to make bottled tea. Selling to the factory benefits smallholders as it requires no capital investment and gives them ac- cess to a wide range of facilities, both physical and financial. Farmers in these groups also sell to mid- dlemen or leaf agents and to large tea estates with their own factories. Selling green leaf to smallhold- ers at collectively-owned factories is perhaps the ideal paradigm. Wawan points out that government regula- tions permit smallholder unions to build and op- erate state-of-the-art factories that are capable of processing 8 tons of green tea per day or 2 tons of made tea. "There is no way a small tea farmer can survive without the goodies that collective membership gives him access to," said Wawan. He explained that government assistance is sim- ply not available to individual smallholders and due to "uneconomic scale," banks won't consider them for credit. The tea smallholder must organize to sur- vive, he said. Coming back down to practical matters, Wawan said for each kilo of green leaf harvested and shipped to the factory, a grower is obliged to pay an "assessment" of IDR 100 (>USD 0.01). The money is kept in a savings account to pur- chase fertilizer and other farm inputs. Another two tenths of a penny is invested in healthcare. Unlike most tea smallholders, Wawan's family members do not work on the farm, so during plucking sea- son, he hires up to 20 pluckers who earn IDR 50/ per kg. for plucked leaf. This works out to $3 per day per plucker. For 20 pluckers, that's $60 per day. Smallholders typically pluck their garden ev- ery two weeks, year round. The local factory pays IDR 2,500 or $0.22 per kg. for assamica leaf and $0.35 per kilo for China bush. Farm group members pay $8.25 per harvest cycle to fund the senior supervisor and supervi- sor's position. Farmers in Wawan's group also own milk cows and grow vegetables for the market and home. He nets $595 a month for all his pursuits or $7,150 a year, much higher than the $2,675 national average. The afternoon drew to a close with a delicious cup of Wawan's green tea, a light sencha, and snacks. We expressed our genuine appreciation for the family's candor and charm, as well as, typi- cal Indonesian politeness and goodwill, with the feeling that growing tea as a smallholder is doing tea the hard way. However, in contrast to larger estates, slow tea appears less stressful and creates fewer complications for growers. There is also the satisfaction that comes with working close to na- ture and far from the maddening crowd. Wawan cultivates a small portion of the 14,000 acres that supplies the PT Kabepe Chakra bought leaf factory in Ciwidey managed by Yana Rudiana. Pak Wawan with his wife Teuis and daughter Dela, 7. His oldest son studies chemistry at the university in Bandung, a second son is in junior high school.