Researchers and staff from the Center for Forestry and Ecosystem Research (Pusat Riset Kehutanan dan Ekosistem) recently attended a working group discussion on “Coffee Climate Protection and Consumer Pay Approach,” a workshop focused on crop insurance as a climate adaptation tool for coffee farmers.

The workshop was led by Wagianto, Sustainability Manager of PT Indocafco, and brought together local coffee practitioners, farmers, and cooperatives alongside the visiting research team.

The session featured Dr. Vivekananda Mittahalli Byrareddy from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ), Australia, a researcher specializing in climate risk management and crop modeling in the coffee sector across the Asia-Pacific region.

Crop Insurance as a Climate Adaptation Tool

The discussion centered on how weather index insurance can help protect smallholder coffee farmers from the growing impacts of climate change, including erratic rainfall, drought, and other climate-related risks that threaten yields and livelihoods. Dr. Byrareddy, who has been involved in developing and testing insurance schemes for coffee farmers in countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, shared insights on how such products are designed and how farmers’ willingness to participate and pay for coverage can shape the success of these schemes.

The “consumer pay approach” explored during the workshop looks at models where the cost of climate protection is shared more broadly across the coffee value chain, an approach relevant to ongoing conversations about sustainability and climate resilience in the global coffee industry.

With practitioners, farmers, and cooperatives in the room alongside the research team, the workshop offered a valuable exchange between scientific research and on-the-ground farming realities, grounding the discussion in the practical needs of the coffee-growing communities the insurance schemes are ultimately meant to serve.

This workshop builds on FOREC’s existing collaboration with PT Indocafco, which has involved a range of stakeholders in Aceh Tengah, including local coffee farmer groups, community-based social forestry institutions (LPHKM Perhutanan Sosial), and the local Forest Management Unit (Kesatuan Pengelola Hutan). Through these partnerships, the Center continues to support research and field-based initiatives that strengthen the resilience of coffee farming communities in the face of a changing climate.