Our Goals
Contributing to a sustainable, climate resilient and responsible spices sector in Indonesia
This will be achieved by assisting pepper farmers to adopt climate-smart farming and agroforestry,which will also increase yields and incomes.
aGROWforests
for Sustainable Spices in Indonesia
Facts
Commodity : (White and black) Pepper
Country : Indonesia
Duration : 12/2022 to 05/2026
Target groups : 2,300 smallholder farmers
Project description
Food production and the climate are interlinked. So are food production and the climate crisis. On the one hand, the production of our food often has a negative impact on the climate. Forests making way for plantations is an important aspect in this matter. Often, what follows is a plantation with so-called monoculture – a piece of land dominated by a single crop – which has serious implications for biodiversity. At the same time, many smallholder farmers already feel the consequences of the climate crisis themselves. Think: prolonged droughts and heavy rains or increasing temperatures that cause certain pests or diseases to thrive.
Agroforestry can be a game-changer for those farmers, as it allows them to plant trees and larger shrubs between regular crops, providing protection against extreme weather conditions. Moreover, the planted trees help to absorb CO2 from the air. But there is more: agroforestry can improve farmers’ livelihoods with income diversification, e.g. new crops from the shade trees and shrubs. Moreover, it can support local biodiversity, making it a win for both the environment and farmers.
In a new partnership, Verstegen Spices & Sauces, Fairfood and PT CAN, together with Indonesian pepper farmers, are working on the adoption of agroforestry. Locally, a team was built of so-called change makers, who received agroforestry training and are now spreading the knowledge to the farmers. A demo plot, on which agroforestry has been practiced for a few years now, shows what’s possible, and what impact can be expected. The 3-year project targets 2.300 farmers (of which 30% women, 15% youth) in the provinces Bangka Belitung and Lampung in Indonesia.
This project aims to make the pepper plantations way less heavy on the climate, while also becoming more resilient to an already changing climate and to provide better livelihoods for farmers and their families.
Partners
Verstegen is a major player in the food sector founded in 1886. The family-owned company sells quality spices and sauces to every segment of the food sector: industry, foodservice, fresh distribution, retail and consumer market. Verstegen is primarily a Dutch company in the EU and a representative office in Indonesia. Besides Indonesia, Verstegen works together with organisations in India, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Brasil on improving sustainability in the supply chain.
The Indonesian company PT CAN provides spices for B2B markets. Established in 2011 in Bandung, Indonesia, the company’s goal is to develop economic, social and environmental added-value sustainability of spices. PT CAN has a commitment to product traceability, community developments, and research in sustainable farming technology.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Fairfood is based in the Netherlands since 2000. Its mission is to accelerate the change towards fair and sustainable food value chains. The organisation works with agri-food companies along value chains to develop innovative business models that benefit companies and cooperatives and enable fair value distribution models that lead to higher incomes for smallholder farmers. The NGO's global operations span 17 countries and various commodities and include large ongoing multi-year programs related to the cocoa, coffee, spices, horticulture and fruit sector.
Agroforestry
Agroforestry in Indonesian pepper cultivation: introducing resilient agriculture
Pepper prices have fallen dramatically over the recent years, making it increasingly difficult for producers to protect their livelihoods. At the same time, pepper monocultures threaten the biodiversity in the growing areas – and are a health hazard for the farmers who need enormous amounts of cheap fertilizers and chemical pesticides to protect their crops. But this is not the end of pepper cultivation: as we show in our project diary, the about the “aGROWforests” project is testing solutions to ensure that this spice will still be there in the future.
The first story shows how the aGROWforests project supports farmers in protecting the climate and biodiversity through sustainable farming methods and at the same time generating more income.
The “aGROWforests” project is working in Indonesia to transform traditional pepper cultivation to prepare for the challenges of climate change and enable farmers to earn a secure income.
Europe and the USA are the largest importers of pepper in the world. On average, around 80,000 tons are imported to the European continent each year. On average, 115,000 tons are imported each year, and imports are expected to rise. Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia are the largest pepper growing countries, and Verstegen Spices & Sauces has been trading Indonesian pepper for more than 130 years. To ensure the future of this trade, Verstegen, in cooperation with the company PT CAN and the Dutch NGO Fairfood launched the “aGROWforests” project, which has been part of the “Initiative for Climate Smart Supply Chains” (I4C) since December 2022. “The main goal of the aGROWforests project is to support farmers with more sustainable pepper farming,” says Yayang Vionita, an agronomist at Verstegen, describing the project’s objective. This is urgently needed because if the current trend in pepper production continues, there will soon no longer be enough pepper.
Climate change – a crucial problem, but not the only one
One of the most far-reaching difficulties is that farmers can no longer earn enough from pepper to make a living. “Pepper prices have dropped dramatically over the past years,” says Fairfood project manager Josje Spierings. At the same time, production is labor-intensive and expensive. Many farmers, therefore, switch to more profitable crops such as palm or rubber trees. To make cultivation profitable at all, most pepper farmers produce in monocultures. However, this has many disadvantages.
The biggest problem is the loss of biodiversity, as monocultures only cultivate one plant species, reducing the variety of plants and animals in the area. Monocultures can result in soil degradation – this has consequences. Yayang Vionita explains the effects: “If soil quality decreases, the source of nutrients for plants to grow and develop will also decrease, so that productivity can decrease.” As a result, farmers have to excessively fertilize their soil. Moreover, diseases spread more quickly where only one plant species is grown. Pathogens spread rapidly to surrounding fields and farms. This can lead to complete crop failures, prompting farmers to use a lot of chemical pesticides as a precaution. They then are constantly exposed to these pesticides in their daily lives. Many suffer from lung diseases or have already suffered permanent lung damage.
Added to this is climate change with its extreme weather events. Experts estimate that heavy rainfall and prolonged rain will destroy up to 50 percent of pepper harvests in the future. The extreme moisture introduces stem rot and other diseases that destroy the pepper plants. Also, the increasingly intense sunlight, leading to longer dry periods, causes stress for the plants and makes them susceptible to diseases. Therefore, maintaining their livelihoods becomes increasingly difficult for farmers.
Approaches to Solutions : Agroforestry and transparency
“The aGROWforests project aims to increase pepper production and income while at the same time adapting the agricultural system to climate change,” says Yayang Vionita, outlining the vision of the I4C partners. The means to this end: agroforestry. Pepper bushes are combined with various tree species and other plants that interact with each other which subsequently reduces stress on the pepper plants and improves soil quality. The result is better yields. Additionally, water is not simply drained away but absorbed, making the pepper better equipped to withstand droughts and long dry periods.
To prepare pepper farmers for the reorganisation of their farms, the project provides training to participants. “Farmers can learn and slowly implement regenerative agriculture and agroforestry in their farm,” says Vionita, explaining the approach. Farmers are invited to observe the procedures, apply the new methods in the field themselves, and discuss them in small groups. If they have any questions, farmers can directly consult experts in so-called “Spice Hubs”. They advise them on introducing agroforestry to their farms or on pepper cultivation in general. To ensure a successful transition to the new agricultural methods, the project monitors the process during the first six months.
Furthermore, “aGROWforests” operates under the motto “farm-to-fork traceability”, meaning tracing pepper from cultivation to consumers. Josje Spierings explains the purpose: “By tracing the supply chain, we will show where the pepper comes from, which regenerative farming practices have been implemented, and the price farmers receive for their pepper”. Traceability creates transparency in the supply chain – which benefits everyone. This includes at least 2,300 farmers and their family and household members who benefit from the “aGROWforests” project.