Planting Avocadoes in Kerinci

The ceremony, held to commemorate the first round of avocado seedlings, included the cooperative members, Rikolto (our local partner), local conservation groups and the village chief. The event also involved a brewing competition for young people in Barokah cooperative.

When planted, these seedlings will provide shade for coffee trees and an additional source of income for members. The avocado seedlings will reduce the effects of deforestation, which is a major problem in Kerinci. The trees are also part of a larger project of landscape conservation and buffer zone creation for the nearby Kerinci Seblat National Park.

Members chose 3 avocado varieties to plant: a local Kerinci variety, Miki and Haas. Haas avocadoes are currently only available in Indonesia as expensive imports, so locally-grown Haas varieties could be very competitive on the local market. Since the climate in Kerinci is much colder than most of Indonesia (one of the things that makes it excellent for coffee production) we are looking forward to seeing how these conditions affect avocado trees.

It takes 4 to 5 years for avocado trees to begin bearing fruit, so we’ll be waiting eagerly to see the effects of these seedlings. In the meantime, we plan to continue supporting Barokah cooperative with additional seedling donations. We hope you’ll continue to help us by purchasing Barokah’s excellent coffees. Keep an eye out for future updates.