Strategi Pemberdayaan Petani Muda Kopi Wirausaha di Kabupaten Simalungun

Abstract

Arabica coffee is a product that people all around the world know well. It is also recognized that such a coffee product from Simalungun Regency has high quality to compete internationally. A sustainable coffee business in Simalungun Regency really depends on young farmer entrepreneurs. The young farmers as national asset need more attention from the stakeholders, including the government, to be able to compete in the globalization era. This study used a method of a qualitative approach with primary data. The techniques of data collection were using focus group discussions (FGD). Discussion was held in two times, which each discussion followed by 15 young coffee farmers and also using in-depth interviews with snowballing technique which followed by 11 young coffee farmers. The subjects of the study were young coffee farmers involved in the coffee business. The result shows that it is necessary to emerge two components: driving and facilitating factors as the strategies of empowering young coffee entrepreneurs. The driving factors include the change from the system of non-market economy into the market system, the change from the patron-client system into the market system; opening an access to coffee processing tools, creating the image of young farmers as active and critical agents, and viewing the young coffee farmers as dynamic subjects in building leadership and entrepreneurship characters. The facilitating factors include building collectivity, organizing young coffee farmers by strengthening social capital, protecting water and land resources by applying good agricultural practices (GAP), livelihood diversification, market access, and technology and information-based extension and advisory-based coffee business. In the era of free markets (MEA), it is necessary to reposition the young coffee farmers from producer farmers into suppliers.