LUNDU – The AFF Jaya Coffee Plantation Project in Kampung Pasir Hulu has been developed as a part of Sarawak’s aspiration to create a coffee belt to raise the agricultural sector and bring prosperity to rural farmers.
The initiative is carried out by the Sarawak Agriculture Office under the AFF Jaya Tani Programme and includes some 50 hectares of land. It has been formulated to improve the coffee sector and raise the socio-economic status of small-scale farmers through commercial growing and downstream processing.
52 Kuala Pasir Hulu villagers are involved in this project, where both coffee planting and business development are being practiced. The programme also motivates and challenges the entities involved in product processing to take advantage of these opportunities, increasing design and development services for businesses that add value to agricultural products.
Billy Sujang, Opar State Councillor, also fully supported the initiative and said that if it were to be extended in stages, it would benefit everybody in the community. He also called upon farmers in the area to emulate the success of Kampung Stenggang, which had a successful development in coffee planting.
“I believe gardeners in Kampung Pasir Hulu can emulate their friends at Kampung Stenggang, who are practicing coffee planting and demonstrating sustainable development,” he said, speaking during the project’s launch on Tuesday.
The importance of farmers and organising bodies working together to achieve long-term success was emphasised by Billy, who said the focus must be on working collectively. He reiterated his promise to protect the interest of smallholders by appealing for help from the government to benefit those involved in the project.
The plantation’s impact has the potential to bring significant benefits to farmers and the society, for which a request for funding has been submitted at RM2,013,893.28 over two years. The fund would go towards garden development, tambak preparation, farm inputs, training programmes, and the purchase of coffee processing equipment.
The initiative fits into Sarawak’s wider ambition to establish itself as a coffee producer, in an effort to leverage global demand for the beverage and uplift rural communities at the same time. Integrating farming with entrepreneurship and value addition, the project hopes to sustain an agri-ecosystem that contributes to economic prosperity while building stronger communities.
