JAKARTA: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, a member of the Islamic Development Bank, is training Indonesian coffee producers in sustainable farming to increase their share of the global market.
Indonesia is the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world and the second-biggest in Asia, accounting for around seven percent of global coffee output.
Indonesia exported roughly 434,000 metric tons, worth over $1.1 billion, in 2022, according to government data. The Jeddah-based ITFC has been running Master Trainer Upgrade programs with the Sustainable Coffee Platform of Indonesia, which hopes to boost sustainable coffee production in the country and increase output by 15 percent by 2026.
“The ITFC’s joint endeavors with SCOPI are aligned with its broader mission of fostering sustainable economic growth in partner countries,” the ITFC told Arab News this week. “By enhancing the value chain from cultivation to export, this initiative has the potential to drive poverty reduction, economic diversification, and increased incomes for all participants in the coffee industry.”
The training programs covered sustainable methods of production, quality standards and market readiness.
“This strategic collaboration is poised to provide Indonesian coffee producers with improved market access, equipping them to meet international standards and cater to global market demands effectively,” the ITFC said, adding that the corporation was eager to initiate additional projects in Indonesia to “catalyze broader trade advancement, fostering economic progress and enhancing livelihoods.”
SCOPI, whose work focuses on developing partnerships in the coffee industry for the welfare of farmers, said its cooperation with the ITFC is “a driving force for positive change, as it involves everyone involved in the coffee value chain.”
The training programs, it added, have the potential to reach other coffee farmers in Indonesia and have an even broader impact.
So far, training has involved participants from Aceh, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi, among other areas. SCOPI is also optimistic about forming similar partnerships across the Middle East.
“The Middle East is a priority export destination for Indonesian coffee,” it said. “We see that there will be more opportunities for cooperation with even more organizations in the Middle East.”
Saudi-based ITFC’s initiatives support coffee farmers in Indonesia
https://arab.news/bvrx5
Saudi-based ITFC’s initiatives support coffee farmers in Indonesia
- Indonesia is world’s fourth-largest coffee producer and Asia’s second-biggest
- Partnership with Indonesia to increase farmers’ output by 15 percent
Bangladesh halts controversial relocation of Rohingya refugees to remote island
- Administration of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina spent about $350m on the project
- Rohingya refuse to move to island and 10,000 have fled, top refugee official says
DHAKA: When Bangladesh launched a multi-million-dollar project to relocate Rohingya refugees to a remote island, it promised a better life. Five years on, the controversial plan has stalled, as authorities find it is unsustainable and refugees flee back to overcrowded mainland camps.
The Bhasan Char island emerged naturally from river sediments some 20 years ago. It lies in the Bay of Bengal, over 60 km from Bangladesh’s mainland.
Never inhabited, the 40 sq. km area was developed to accommodate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the cramped camps of the coastal Cox’s Bazar district.
Relocation to the island started in early December 2020, despite protests from the UN and humanitarian organizations, which warned that it was vulnerable to cyclones and flooding, and that its isolation restricted access to emergency services.
Over 1,600 people were then moved to Bhasan Char by the Bangladesh Navy, followed by another 1,800 the same month. During 25 such transfers, more than 38,000 refugees were resettled on the island by October 2024.
The relocation project was spearheaded by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year. The new administration has since suspended it indefinitely.
“The Bangladesh government will not conduct any further relocation of the Rohingya to Bhasan Char island. The main reason is that the country’s present government considers the project not viable,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News on Sunday.
The government’s decision was prompted by data from UN agencies, which showed that operations on Bhasan Char involved 30 percent higher costs compared with the mainland camps in Cox’s Bazar, Rahman said.
“On the other hand, the Rohingya are not voluntarily coming forward for relocation to the island. Many of those previously relocated have fled ... Around 29,000 are currently living on the island, while about 10,000 have returned to Cox’s Bazar on their own.”
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them crossed to neighboring Bangladesh, fleeing a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military. Today, about 1.3 million of them shelter in 33 camps in the coastal Cox’s Bazar district, making it the world’s largest refugee settlement.
Bhasan Char, where the Bangladeshi government spent an estimated $350 million to construct concrete residential buildings, cyclone shelters, roads, freshwater systems, and other infrastructure, offered better living conditions than the squalid camps.
But there was no regular transport service to the island, its inhabitants were not allowed to travel freely, and livelihood opportunities were few and dependent on aid coming from the mainland.
Rahman said: “Considering all aspects, we can say that Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char is currently halted. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, only one batch of Rohingya was relocated to the island.
“The relocation was conducted with government funding, but the government is no longer allowing any funds for this purpose.”
“The Bangladeshi government has spent around $350 million on it from its own funds ... It seems the project has not turned out to be successful.”
