Farmer
Cooperative Member Mohammed Salim:
Gayo Mountain Organic Farmers Association
Mohammed Salim has a lifelong passion
for coffee. He's been growing it for 35 years on a plush
upland plateau in Indonesia's Aceh province. His father
grew it before him. "My family has always grown coffee
in harmony with the land, and that's what makes it possible
for me to continue to make a living here today," said
Salim. He's committed to ensuring that coffee-growing in
this region remains true to the health tradition that has
sustained it for so long.
For him, that means teaching other farmers
to avoid the short-term payoff of using agrochemicals
and planting new coffee varieties that grow in the full
sun of clear-cut fields. These methods produce high yields
for a short time, then quickly exhaust the soil
and leave behind a barren habitat.
Instead, Salim has turned his own plantation
into a much-visited demonstration farm for shade-grown
and organic techniques. ForesTrade recently asked Salim
to run its extension program in Aceh. Salim now visits
farmers in the regions and hold workshops at village mosques.
"With the difficult economic situation
in Indonesia, there's a lot of pressure to do the easy
things that make money quickly," says Salim. "Now,
I use my own farm to show that there's a better way -
one that lasts for generations."
Mohammed Salim is a member of the Gayo Mountain
Organic Farmers Association. The Association exports their
coffee in partnership with ForesTrade to Cooperative
Coffees, a roaster-owned coffee importing cooperative.
|
