Marselina is known as NTT’s only coffee quality tester, or Q Grader.
By
Kornelis Kewa Ama
·7 minutes read
Born and raised in a remote village amid lush Arabica coffee plants in Bajawa, Ngada, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Marselina Walu, 46, has developed deep affection for her organic crop. Marselina’s multiple designations as a coffee farmer, owner of the Berdikari processing facility and the chair of a woman farmers group have established her as the first coffee Q Grader in NTT. Her perseverance in cultivating and developing coffee has built up international businesses’ confidence in her coffee quality testing skills.
ARSIP PRIBADI
Marselina Walu
When she was contacted in Bajawa on Friday (9/7/2021), Marselina said she wanted to change the mindset of women in Radabata village, Golewa district, Ngada regency and in East Nusa Tenggara as a whole so they would become independent, relying on their own strengths and capacities. Marselina has a 50-acre coffee plantation in Radabata that she inherited from her parents, which she expanded to 100 acres in 2001. To secure adequate income from her crop, plants like tubers had to be removed and replaced with organic Arabica coffee, which she later intercropped with other plants.
The inherited coffee plants of over 30 years old were also rejuvenated by pruning and renewing those less productive. In 2015, her crop produced a maximum yield of 3-4 kilograms of hulled coffee beans per tree.
In 2019 she joined a national competition for coffee plantations with the highest production output and won. One hectare of her coffee plants produced 6 tons of coffee cherries in the category of highest national organic coffee production. This achievement led to a trip to Jakarta for this single mother of one to meet with the Agriculture Minister and President Joko Widodo. Her meeting with the President became a point of pride for this farmer from the interior of NTT.
It was the fruit of her hard work. At 6 a.m. Central Indonesia Time, Marselina is already in her plantation to monitor her coffee plants, spray insecticide and weed her fields. She prunes dry branches and twigs, as well as those reaching over 4 meters high. “It worries me most to see young coffee cherries infested with insects to finally producing coffee beans of low quality,” she said.
Marselina is active in the Berdikari farmers group, which has 25 members including three men. The male members of the group are meant to handle jobs unfit for women, such as climbing coconut and palm trees as well as lifting objects weighing more than 50 kg.
In 2013, Ngada coffee was included in the communities for the protection of geographical indication of Flores Bajawa Arabica Coffee, Ngada.
A senior high school graduate, Marselina was anxious that this coffee of international quality could be neglected and go extinct. Many coffee farmers in Ngada are very fond of imitating others. If some grow porang tubers, the others follow suit, such as in the case of cultivating ginger or crop vegetables said to produce three harvests per year. Coffee plants are thus replaced with the other crops. “This is to be much regretted,” she said.
In 2013, Ngada coffee was included in the communities for the protection of geographical indication of Flores Bajawa Arabica Coffee, Ngada.
She also mentioned the eight agricultural processing units (UPH) in Ngada that were led by men, excepting UPH Berdikari. Each UPH purchases quality coffee cherries from farmers for processing further according to international standards for exporting.
The quantity of coffee cherries a UPH purchases depends on its capital. UPH Berdikari, which Marselina heads, buys 10-20 tons of coffee cherries for Rp 6,000 per kg each harvest season. The other UPHs and external traders buy the coffee for Rp 5,000 per kg, but she wants to help the coffee farmers. “Let’s just share,” she said.
As a coffee farmer, Marselina also harvests the cherries by hand. Her experience and intuition as a coffee picker is reliable. She knows which ones are ready to harvest and have export quality and which ones would be suitable for local consumption. Not everybody is capable of sorting coffee like her.
Thanks to her skills, sorting doesn’t take long, so the fruits can be promptly processed into hulled beans. The period for drying the coffee in the sun depends on the local air temperature. It usually around 6-12 days, but with a box dryer it takes only 16-18 hours.
DOKUMEN PRIBADI
Benu, Marselina Walu\'s son, practice picking coffee beans at their farm in Rajabata Village, Golewa, Ngada, East Nusa Tenggara.
Marselina is known as NTT’s only coffee quality tester, or Q Grader. She gained her skills with the support of a nongovernmental organization that facilitated her six-month training on coffee variety and quality testing in Bandung, West Java. Although the classes were held in Indonesia, her Q Grader certificate was issued in the United States. The certification examiners came from the coffee industries of the US, Indonesia and Japan.
Bajawa Arabica organic coffee was entered into a coffee exhibition in Kupang on 27 Nov. 2019. The coffee is served at famous restaurants and cafes in Jakarta and other cities at home and abroad.
Marselina is a tester at every NTT and national coffee contest, although these events have been suspended temporarily for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bajawa Arabica organic coffee was entered into a coffee exhibition in Kupang on 27 Nov. 2019. The coffee is served at famous restaurants and cafes in Jakarta and other cities at home and abroad.
International exports
Marselina tests all the coffee produced by UPHs in Ngada, including UPH Berdikari, before the beans are exported to countries like China, the US, Australia, Japan and Germany. She also certifies the quality of all coffee beans exported or distributed domestically to cafes in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya.
“So far, the quality of the coffees I have recommended have not received any complaints or been determined as [substandard],” she said.
“For [exports to] Guangzhou, China, we can ship directly for Rp 150,000 per kg after [company representatives] visited in 2016 to [inspect] the coffee plants and the harvesting and packaging processes. However, for other countries, this must be carried out through PT Sucafina Indonesia Coffee Bandung. This company buys [hulled beans] from us for Rp 52,000 per kg for processing and exporting,” Marselina added.
She regretted the inconsistent application of the regional regulation on Ngada Arabica organic coffee. The 2017 regulation prohibits the interisland trade of Ngada Arabica coffee in the form of cherries. But the fact today is that coffee cherries are distributed to the island of Java, parts of Sulawesi like Toraja and Makassar, and several cities in Sumatra. Coffee cherries are even shipped to Australia. There, Ngada Arabica is labeled as a local product.
DOKUMEN PRIBADI.
Marselina Walu and member of Berdikari Farmer, Rajabata Village, Golewa, Ngada, East Nusa Tenggara, are sorting coffee beans.
From 2018 to 2021, the government’s attention for Ngada Arabica coffee declined. Farmers were left to work on their own. Guidance for coffee farmers fell. Aid in the form of seedlings, liquid insecticides, auxiliary crops as well as equipment to facilitate the management of UPH and coffee cooperatives were also discontinued.
“The regional administration promised to provide assistance in funding coffee rejuvenation, but it was canceled. Later, it also canceled a commitment to provide cattle for breeding [at coffee plantations], as well as its latest pledge to provide goats,” she said.
The Covid-19 pandemic is spreading and the coffee farmers’ revenue is worsening. Furthermore, Tropical Cyclone Seroja destroyed an entire crop of coffee. “This year, we in Ngada call it ro ’o, meaning ‘a break from fruiting’,” said Marselina, who is now training female senior high school graduates as coffee cadres.
While her activities may be located in a remote village, Marselina continues to provide guidance to the members of her farmers group towards progress.
Marselina Walu
Born: Radabata, Ngada, 10 March 1975
Husbandi: Maksimus (deceased)
Child: Benu, 15
Education: SMAN Komodo state senior high school, Labuan Bajo
