The future looks stormy for the Indonesian coffee market, with slow production growth unable to meet a consumption hike, leaving the country – a net exporter – likely to become a net importer within the next five years.

Center for Coffee and Cacao Research director Misnawi said that domestic coffee production in Indonesia had increased at an annual 5 percent maximum in recent years, while consumption had risen at least 14 percent per year.

There were, Misnawi said, four challenges faced by coffee plantations in Indonesia. First, the development of more adaptive crops to anticipate global warming. Second, the need to more evenly spread production centers, which are currently concentrated in Sulawesi, where weather conditions reduce the quality of second-generation crops.Third, a more sustainable technology for planting coffee. Fourth, human resources; the number of coffee planters is decreasing as a result of urbanization, necessitating a more creative approach, such as incorporating plantations into ecotourism.

Source: the Jakarta Post