Certification and farmer organisation: Indonesian smallholder perceptions of benefits

Both certification and participation in farmer organizations are associated with economic and social benefits for farmers. However, knowledge about potential differences in perceived benefits resulting from participating in different forms of organization and certification schemes is limited. In this paper, we distinguish three types of farmer organizations in the Indonesian coffee sector: farmer groups, cooperatives and KUBEs. We compare the perceived benefits of farmers in these different forms of organization, including unorganized farmers, and of farmers in different certification schemes (i.e., Fairtrade, UTZ certified, Rainforest Alliance, and 4C). We found that certified farmers perceive higher benefits than uncertified farmers, and organized farmers perceive higher benefits than unorganized smallholders. Farmers with a dual membership (for example of a farmer group and a KUBE or cooperative) experience more benefits than farmers who only participate in farmer groups. Although farmers belonging to different certification schemes do significantly differ in their perceived benefits, we could not identify clear patterns based on the different schemes. We
conclude that integration of the different organizational forms, and a more intense collaboration between the different ministries underlying each organizational form, may further improve the benefits perceived by farmers in the Indonesian coffee sector.