Organic Arabica Blog

I have been working hard, from zero, developing my Online Coffee Store www.organicarabica.coffee but for almost a year, I have not yet completed the setting up of the site. I do not know what I should do next. In offline world, coffee business in Papua and Papua Barat provinces is being challenged significantly by government policies that are apparently not friendly to the business climate in the two provinces. What the government say are the opposite of what they actually do in the field. In the middle of setting up my Online Store I came across with various statements from government officials in Papua and Papua Barat provinces that clearly indicate they are not up for coffee development here, in this part of the Isle of New Guinea. I searched on the Internet, typing the term "Papua Coffee" and I found out most of the websites are from Papua New Guinea, eastern part of the Isle of New Guinea. Papua Coffee, from East and West New Guinea are organic coffee, and they are Arabica Coffee, therefore, they are Specialty Coffee. I, Jhon Yonathan Kwano, pray that somebody in this planet Earth will come out to me, offer me assistance to build my Online Store for my Papua Coffee and help me further develop Papua Online Store. I am praying while waiting.

I have a second story on government policy. This time is not about the provincial government, but at lower level. In Indonesia it is called Regency Leve, same as County Level in other parts of the world. As I mentioned before, the governor has made a public statement in front of Rev. Ki'marek Karoba Tawy and his church members that he will make the Papua Coffee become one of the best coffee in the world. But the government of Jayawijaya Regency, with police and army commanders in the region are saying and doing just the opposite. One possible scenario is that the governor actually lied to his GIDI church founder, Mr. Karoba: in open statement he promised to develop coffee in Papua Province but in reality he ordered his subsidiaries to neglect, and even divert the coffee development in the highlands of Papua. Whatever it is Luas Enembe is doing, I just want to mention what Wempi Wetipo as the Regent of Jayawijaya and Jhon Banua as the Deputy Regent of Jayawijaya Regency are doing. The recently made public announcement in an open cultural festival in Wamena that there is no policy on Coffee Development in Jayawijaya Regency. Jayawijaya Regency will focus on Sweet Potatoe and other vegetables development, and this means we bring to an end the coffee development in this regency. This statement was openly confronted by coffee farmers who were in the field, during the cultural festival, but they were disregarded. The regent was present with military and police officers. I want to ask you guys again, hello everybody out there, is this an obstacle or an opportunity for coffee business in Papua Province?

I have not yet come to a clear conclusion whether or not some examples of statements and actions that I want to present in the coming articles are obstacles or challenges. I want you, readers to tell me what they actually are. I hope that after at least three articles, we will have a clearer idea of what is actually happening. I do not want to pre-judge what is happening based on my very subjective perspective, because I myself am the player of coffee business in Papua and Papua Barat provinces of Indonesia. I want you, out there, to judge what this really is: challenge or obstacle? I actually want you to tell me that these are challenges, not obstacles, as a Papuan, and as a local as well as beginner in business world, I must acknowledge that I cannot cope with what is happening right now. When the governor of Papua, Lukas Enembe was inaugurated as the Governor of Papua, two days after that, he flew directly to my village, asking GIDI's Founder (GIDI is the Evangelical Church of Indonesia, and Lukas Enembe is a GIDI church member) to pray for him. The GIDI Founder, Rev. Ki'marek Karoba Tawy prayed for him, and gave him s few advice. By the Way, Rev. Ki'marek Tawy himself is a coffee farmer, he is the founder of the KSU Baliem Arabica (Baliem Arbaica Cooperative), the only cooperative, or business entity in Papua soil that has already successfully exported coffee directly from West Papua to the USA Market since November 2009. Rev. Ki'marek Tawy told the governor that he should focus on helping the coffee farmers. The governor said on the stage, openly that he will prioritise the development of Coffee in Papua Province. Today is 24 November 2015, since two years ago, Lukas Enembe made the promise. The coffee export was already happened since 2009, far before Lukas Enembe was elected as the governor. After Lukas came into office, he had not yet done anything for coffee development. Even he stopped the coffee export. His promise to coffee farmer has never become a reality. Lukas came to Rev. Kimarek's hometown asking for his prayer to support himself to be a good governor, but he has so far neglected the request from is own Pastor. I do not understand, whether or not this is an obstacle or a challenge. Let me know, I am Jhon Yonathan Kwano.

The marketing Unit Chair, Jhon Yonathan Kwano says based on recent discussions and meetings with Fair Trade Hong Kong and some coffee houses in Hong Kong, thailand and Singapore, it is clear that the coffee market in Asia is wating for Papua Arabica Coffee to go into the market. Mr. Kwano says, "This is a reality, but another reality is that the Baliem Arabica Cooperative is not doing enough in order to purchase coffee and supply the coffee to the Marketing and Sales Unit in Yogyakarta." Mr. Karno continues,

This year of 2015 is the year of ASEAN Market Unification however, Papua is still left behind in many aspects, let alone coffee business. The vice-governor said recently that Papua is ready to integrate into ASEAN Single Market, but I would argue that this is not a reality. What he said is only a hope. A hope is not a reality. We want to see real actions in response to the current reality and progress. We do not want rhetoric, but reality, and real actions, based on real condition.

Mr Kwano continues that in many events we hear people mention the name "Kopi Wamena", or "Kopi Papua", but nobody knows who is actually professionally organising the farmers and educating them to produce coffee based on internationally practiced standards of coffee production. Jhon Kwano furthermore explains that there are local government who wants coffee business to go bankrupt, and consequently pushing policies that bring about great loss to the coffee farmers and the Baliem Arabica cooperative itself. Questioned on which local government, Mr. Kwano chose not to mention. Asked whether government should be responsible for the current coffee business situation in West Papua (Papua and Papua Barat Provinces of Indonesia), Jhon Kwano says, "It is enough, we have enough people blaming the government. THere is nobody to blame, no need to blame anyone. The overal situation in West Papua is that we are not yet ready, and nobody to blame for that matter of fact. What we need to do is acknowledge the reality, and work hard on that realisation in order to welcome current developments in all aspects of life. Asia is ready for Papua Coffee, and therefore, now is the time for Papuans and coffee business companies to focus on developing and managing the coffee business in West Papua.