Celebrating 40 years of CIRAD in Southeast Asia: evolution of the coffee and cocoa sectors, with taste, the environment and small farmers in the spotlight

14/11/2024
The Southeast Asia Regional Office and the Institut français d'Indonésie celebrated CIRAD's 40th anniversary on 8 October in Jakarta. The programme included a half-day conference-debate on establishing and developing the coffee and cocoa sectors in Indonesia, a round table on food recycling, coffee and chocolate tastings, and a large-format photo exhibition. The celebration was held as part of Food Month, organized by the Institut français d'Indonésie.
Baldwin Jehanot, Jika chocolat. © IFI Jakarta
Baldwin Jehanot, Jika chocolat. © IFI Jakarta

Baldwin Jehanot, Jika chocolat. © IFI Jakarta

To mark its 40th anniversary, CIRAD highlighted the work carried out by Indonesia to develop two export sectors that have become pillars of the country's peasant economy in the space of a century: coffee and cocoa. Scientific experts, government authorities and donors discussed the theme: ‘40 years of CIRAD in Indonesia: from forest to coffee and cocoa, a story of shared taste’. The debate was supported by two concrete developments in these sectors supported by CIRAD:

  • Evolution 1: Coop Community Indonesia - a success story of the coffee Geographical Indication’, by the president of the Indonesian coffee cooperative community (Reza Fabianus from Bali).

Reza Fabianus, coffee Bali. © IFI Jakarta

  • Evolution 2: ‘Cacao bean to bar in Indonesia: chocolate from Indonesian beans to Indonesian consumers, with French “savoir-faire”’, by Baldwin Jehanot, Jika Chocolate.

These presentations were followed by a debate with the audience. A tasting of Kintamani coffees (GI initiated by CIRAD) and JIKA Indonesian chocolates (so-called ‘single origin’ chocolates) then brought together the players in the sector, representatives of the Indonesian Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and members of the public.

At the same time, CIRAD and the Institut français d'Indonésie have installed a photo exhibition celebrating CIRAD's 40th anniversary on the outside walls of the Embassy: Preserving and feeding the planet: the Living Large format. 
The exhibition runs from 8 October to 28 November on the walls of the French Embassy on avenue Thamrin, one of Jakarta's busiest and most prestigious avenues. Literally, thousands of Indonesians and passers-by of all nationalities in this part of Jakarta's business district will have been able to catch a glimpse of CIRAD's work. 

Posters on the wall of the French Embassy in Jakarta © IFI Jakarta

Posters on the wall of the French Embassy in Jakarta © IFI Jakarta