Determining Impacts of Certification and Digitalization on Poverty of Smallholder Gayo Coffee Farmers in Indonesia

Abstract

The benefit of global coffee certification schemes on farmers’ economy is still arguable. A dynamic environment in voluntary standards and digitalization in the coffee trades has resulted in more complicated effects on the farmers' livelihood. This study aims to analyze the determining factors of certification schemes and digitalization on smallholder Gayo coffee farmers’ livelihood. A total number of 488 Gayo coffee farmers located in eight sub-districts of Aceh Tengah and Bener Meriah Regencies of Aceh Province have been interviewed. A logit regression model was applied to determine the factors affecting farmers’ poverty. This study found that in the “low management-low yields” coffee farmings, certification increases the income than the conventional coffees. However, the benefits only covered for farmer’s basic expenditure in the short term. This study implies that the Gayo coffee certification schemes have less impacts on the adoption of technology and digitalization.