From Fighting Poverty To Earning Income Through Coffee Plantations, Know About Sinderi Poose's Journey

India is the seventh-largest coffee producer globally and the third-largest in Asia, with 98 per cent of the coffee-producing farmers being smallholders (most of them own less than 2 acres of land).

Traditional coffee-producing states in the country like Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu account for nearly 97 per cent of the total coffee production, while others considered 'non-traditional' in terms of their production account for the remaining three per cent. Andhra Pradesh is one such non-traditional, coffee-growing region of India with over 93,000 smallholder tribal coffee farmers.

One among them is Sinderi Poose, who had a tumultuous journey as a coffee farmer.

Beginning Of Growing Coffee

Hailing from the Simliguda village in the Araku valley in Andhra Pradesh, Sinderi started growing coffee in the early 2000s. Before that, her family had only been cultivating crops for their consumption – like paddy, ragi, and lentils on a small piece of land they owned. The weather conditions of the hilly region around their villages, along with a lack of any other sustainable livelihood options in the area, prompted the state government to encourage farmers like her to grow income-generating, or 'cash crops', such as Coffee and Black Pepper.

Sinderi and her husband were amongst the first farmers to receive training on how to plant coffee saplings provided by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) on a half-acre land leased to them. Today, Sinderi and her family of 10 (including her two sons, their wives, and children) make the maximum percentage of their family income through the coffee plantations they have nurtured.

The story of them reaching a stage of actually generating profits out of their coffee fields, however, is a challenging one.

Disappointing Start

After planting the saplings in the early 2000s, Sinderi and her family sold their first batch of coffee in 2005 as 'dry cherry'– dried directly after plucking or hulled beans – where the hulling was done manually due to lack of machinery. Due to their small landholding and low produce, they had to sell the coffee through village aggregators and earned only ₹700 in the first year.

Over the years, as Sinderi's sons grew up, they each received more land from the State Forest Department. However, although the families' overall landholding increased to three acres, their prices for the produce remained consistently low.

Sinderi's younger son Bangaraju recalls that in 2015, they sold 200 kg of Parchment Coffee for the first time at ₹80 per kg, which was 30-40% lower than the market price. The local traders often held back 50% of the payments for up to five to six months to make the situation worse. After putting immense effort into cultivating and processing the coffee every year, Sinderi and her family constantly felt cheated and underpaid.

Despite three acres of landholding and an entire year spent tending to the coffee plantations, the 10-member household still stood at an annual revenue of only ₹16,000 and continued to live in extreme poverty.

Joining The FPO

In 2020, TechnoServe, with grant support from the Walmart Foundation, came to their rescue and started an initiative in the region by partnering with a Farmer Producer Company (FPC) called the Thoorpu Kanumula FPC Limited (TKFPCL).

During their initial meetings with the FPC members, Sinderi and her son Bangaraju were a little apprehensive despite being told about the benefits of joining the Company and becoming its shareholders. Their doubts finally vanished once they received upfront payments for their produce and observed the transparency in the weighing methods used. There has not been any looking back since then.

In 2020-21, the family received ₹185 per kg for their coffee, 30% higher than the market price. The coffee was collected from their doorstep by FPC members and they were paid upfront. The transparent weighing system and increased costs have resulted in the family selling 559 kg of coffee and doubling its revenue to ₹1.03 lakhs in 2021.

FPCs not only bring back the maximum share of the value chain to the primary producer but also act as a binding factor in an otherwise scattering community.

When asked why she joined the FPC and what value it adds, Sinderi says, "We were all being exploited because of bad pricing, weight reduction, and delay in payments. On the other hand, the FPC made the payments beforehand and gave a much better price. Now my entire village has become part of the same organisation, re-instilling a sense of community amongst the residents."

Bangaraju, Sinderi's younger son, also became a Lead Farmer in 2020 and helped mobilise every family in his village to become FPC shareholders. Today, the Thoorpu Kanumula FPC has 100% representation from his village – 35 shareholders from 35 families. With this participation success, Bangaraju facilitated 9 MT of procurement from his and another nearby village in the 2020-21 coffee season.

"Getting a good price for our coffee has encouraged us to improve the quality of the coffee we sell", says Sinderi, with gleaming eyes. She and many other farmers like her from the region have now started seeing coffee as a source of regular income. The FPC's support and clarity in procurement have made them confident about the potential of their coffee plantations.

Hard Work Paying Off

Sinderi, Bangaraju, and their family are now very happy with the returns they received for their coffee last year. Her 5-year-old grandson, Barath, was enrolled in school this year and her 2.5-year-old granddaughter, Sravani will start next year. With increasing income, the family is beginning to plan for a better and brighter future for themselves.

Like Sinderi and Bangaraju, TechnoServe's program has impacted the lives of more than 2,300 coffee farmers in the region over the last two years. The Sustainable Livelihoods for Smallholder Farmers program in Andhra Pradesh aims to reach up to 3,500 coffee farmers through seven farmer producer organisations by the end of 2023.

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