Visit to coconut sugar farmers

At the beginning of 2017, Nicolas Merky travelled to Indonesia to get to know the Nira Satria cooperative better. It supplies us with organic coconut sugar and holds various certifications: EU Bio, NOP, Kosher, HACCP and soon also  FLO Fairtrade.

Coconut sugar is the traditional sweetener on Java, firmly established and widely available. The harvest and production are very labour intensive. Twice a day, the farmers climb up to the crowns of the coconut palms. They empty the bamboo containers that have filled up since the last harvest and make a fresh knife cut in the coconut flowers so that the sap flows better and the flowers don't dry out.

Farmer Maksudi is a member of the Nira Satria cooperative and has been harvesting coconut sugar for more than 30 years. He has 29 trees and harvests around 14 kg of sugar per day.

In Indonesia's hot and humid climate, the collected juice must be boiled immediately to avoid fermentation and to evaporate most of the moisture. When the sugar has cooled, it is ground into a fine powder and sieved.

The farmers' families have clearly allocated tasks. Whilst the boiling, sieving and packing is done by every available person, only the men climb the trees. In Java, it is always the women who negotiate with the cooperative regarding the sale price. The women simply have a better idea of the cost of living, explains Maskudi.

Coconut sugar is by far the most important source of income for these farmers. Their plots are small, light woodlands with massive biodiversity. Various other plants grow alongside the coconut palms, mainly for personal use: trees for timber and mango, cocoa, bananas, coffee, mangosteen, papaya, various vegetables, spices, herbs and healing plants are available to harvest. They also provide a home for numerous birds, butterflies and insects.

The cooperative performs various important tasks in helping to secure the farmers' long-term income:

• Purchasing, central processing and sale of the coconut sugar
• Quality management and certification
• Savings bank: 1% of the sale price is not distributed but invested in an interest-bearing deposit account. The farmers can apply for the savings for major expenses such as a wedding or when their child progresses to the next stage of schooling.
• Health insurance: the cooperative insures all farmers and their nearest relatives against illness.
• Various training courses for members, including on production and quality.
• Profit share: at the end of the year, any profit the cooperative has made is distributed to the farmers as additional income.

Nicolas is impressed both by the farmers' daily labour and the great way the cooperative is organised. He is convinced that this sustainable and promising project could also be a model for other organic products.