Potential for transformational change in Wayanad coffee farming economics
Coffee is the backbone of the Wayanad economy and is at the heart of its agrarian engagement. Robusta coffee, as the name indicates, is better poised to withstand the impact of climate change, as compared to the fragile Arabica variety. Currently, the Robusta variety produced by over 60,000 farmers in Wayanad is considered a “filler” coffee, fetching a farm gate price of about 10 per cent of what the consumer pays.
The opportunity
An effort is being made to enable Wayanad coffee farmers to produce superior fine coffees, which have the potential to realise significantly higher values when exposed to the more discerning markets within and outside India.
Considering the erratic price lines that follow the international supply and demand pattern, and the increasingly erratic effects of rainfall that is critical for coffee productivity, it is felt an improvement in coffee prices through product and market differentiation will provide a financial hedge. Such an effort is being made through the impartial protocol of a coffee cupping quality competition. The whole exercise will rely on suitable benchmarking, such that the award-winning coffees are truly world class.
For the first time, a handholding exercise is being organised to enlist about 500 farmers in this exercise, concurrently raising their awareness on production of fine coffees by educating them on the harvesting and post-harvesting standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed. The primary coffee grower involvement in this has come through the Wayanad Coffee Growers’ Association (WCGA), an organisation that dates back to 1945. To achieve wider reach, by involving small and marginal farmers, milk societies that have a strong ground structure have also been approached. We have approached tribal farmer groups also to make this process truly inclusive. The whole exercise has the support and guidance of the Coffee Board of India.
it is also a timely development that the current trends in biological interventions in coffee processing will add a new dimension to the post-harvest management and coffee processing, leading to further facilitation of specialty coffee production.
Apart from cup quality, coffees will be selected on a composite score of product safety (based on technical evaluation for plant protection residues) and sustainability (evaluating the environment in which the coffee is grown, such as biodiversity (shade grown etc.), carbon neutrality, climate change Impact adaptation/ mitigation, and community support elements. Wayanad’s geographical positioning as a biodiversity hotspot, its varied flora and fauna, and the GI tagging of Wayanad robusta coffee are all complementary factors that add strength to this effort.
Carbon neutrality will remain at the core of our sustainability focus, both as a consumer connect, as well as forming part of our long-term and enduring commitment as a farming community to mitigate the impact of climate change. Global climate change patterns are increasing the vulnerability of coffee production and, therefore, building resilience and seeking pathways that enable both adaptation and mitigation of climate change impact and enhancing the ecosystem’s capability to absorb climate shocks will be our focus. Wayanad already has an ongoing carbon neutrality programme championed by the Kerala government under the Wayanad Smart Coffee Mission.
Anticipated benefits through these initiatives
The change of perception about Wayanad robusta that can come with these interventions will help us to move at least a small proportion of the production to a higher value chain. Starting with about 5 per cent of the production by next year, we could aim to reach about 20 per cent in the following three years.
Meanwhile, Kerala Coffee Ltd (KCL) that is registered under Kerala’s State Innovation and Development Strategy Council ( K-DISC), will provide the coffee farming community a range of useful services that will be affordable.
We believe that the science and technology platform and other connected knowledge elements provided under the aegis of KCL will be the key enablers that will help the farmers transform their production to a level of being a holistically superior product serving a discerning customer, achieving superior value through supportive market access. Such a knowledge-driven philosophy is the underlying objective of this initiative, with support from institutional partnerships, both within India and overseas.
KCL’s infrastructure will also impart skill training and extension services, alongside development of a trained labour bank, to support farming operations. Income augmentation will be supported by providing technical support for growing other agronomically suitable crops as inter crops in coffee, as well as by pursuing carbon economics through soil carbon measurement and its conversion to carbon credits for trading.
It is expected that KCL will evolve as an agency that will have a standard-setting role by running Annual Coffee Cupping competitions in collaboration with the Coffee Board and Coffee Growers’ Associations and other organised coffee communities, that will enable Wayanad Coffee farmers to present a holistic product that combines the virtues of cup quality, product safety and sustainability, which has the potential to enhance consumer connect and, therefore, fetch higher value.
The strategy will be to give the farmers, individually or through their appropriate groups, the liberty to market their holistic and fine coffees, so selected, under Wayanad’s Indian Fine Robusta (WIFR) platform. It is planned to launch 10 samples of such select coffees under the WIFR banner, in the world of coffee event schedule to take place in Copenhagen towards end-June 2024.
(The author is an independent consultant – Plantation Crops, Agribusiness and Sustainability.)