There is nothing more essential to coffee than the hands behind it. Long before it reaches our cups, it is grown, picked, and carried by farmers who work under relentless heat, day after day, to produce what we so easily consume.
Yet in Indonesia alone, over 470,000 coffee farmers live in poverty — which is nearly 35% of total farmers in the nation.
On top of that, 579,000 coffee farmers are in worse conditions, which places them under extreme poverty — earning less than $1.90 or approximately Rp30,000 a day.
However, these numbers are mere statistics, because they fail to picture the real conditions these farmers go through. Across the world, countless farmers devote their lives to cultivating something that, in many cases, cannot even feed their own mouths.
Even in the best conditions, one-third of farmers earn less than $100 per year from growing coffee and 96% of Indonesian coffee is produced by smallholder farmers, many operating on very small land (<1-2 hectares).
The levels of low incomes result in malnutrition, minimal educational opportunities and disease, which often is the case for many farmers in Indonesia.
Although it may be almost impossible to solve this problem, Harmens believes that it could, and it will at the very least, be minimized.
To begin, I’ve contributed some of my personal savings to help launch these efforts — the creation of Harmens.
However, our ability to support these farmers on our own is limited, which is the reason why we require your support to facing this together. Through Harmens, you have the option to contribute directly — supporting the very hands that make coffee possible, and helping create a more sustainable future for them.
If you’d like to donate directly, 100% of the money goes directly to farmers.