Livelihood strategies of smallholder coffee farmers: case study in Simalungun, North Sumatera

Abstract

The majority of coffee in Simalungun is produced by smallholder coffee farmers who have several issues, including limited working capital, access to knowledge, technology and market information. These issues have impacted on low productivity that further has caused the low income obtained from coffee farm. The aim of this research is to understand the livelihood strategies applied by smallholder coffee farmers and to analyze the contribution of coffee to the household farmers’ income. A household survey has been carried out in 2018. The survey was conducted in Silimakuta, Dolok Silau, Purba, Pematang Silimakuta, Dolok Silau, and Pematang Purba sub districts. There were 200 smallholder coffee farmers interviewed in this research. The research showed that the majority of coffee farmers applied diversification livelihood strategies. The smallholder coffee farmers are also maintaining diverse and highly intensive horticulture production, such as citrus, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage and chili. The research results indicate that coffee consist only part of the smallholder coffee farmers livelihood. However, coffee plays important contribution as source of smallholder coffee farmers’ income, with average coffee contribution to smallholder household farmers accounted for 42.30% to household farmers’ income. The income gained from coffee is generally spent to meet staple food needs, particularly to buy rice.