Meet Dewi Susanti

Being a female smallholder farmer can admittedly be a challenge given historical expectations and cultural perceptions, but it is also a source of great pride for many, such as Dewi Susanti.

She started as a member of group of female farmers in the Gedung Wani village. Dewi and other members actively attended Farmer Field School (FFS) delivered by HRNS in Indonesia, learning about Good Agricultural Practices, organization development and marketing.

Through the program, Dewi, who farmed coffee with her parents as a child, started to show her potential and aptitude to lead. This started simply as Dewi offered to help the HRNS field officer translate some of the training into the local language to ensure participants could understand the lessons. From there, Dewi became a trusted advisor of other farmers, many of whom turned to her with questions.

In 2017, Dewi became a key farmer and took an active role in teaching other farmers about coffee cultivation. She is also now a member of a coffee smallholder cooperative that was established by the project.

Dewi is just one example of thousands of smallholder farmers who have taken the opportunity presented by the intervention programs to not only enhance their productivity but to support their fellow farmers.