TITLE:
The Nucleus-Estate and Smallholder Partnership towards Export Competitiveness of Timor Leste Coffee
AUTHORS:
Belandia da Costa Graciana, I Gusti Agung Ayu Ambarawati, Dwi Putra Darmawan, I Wayan Budiasa
KEYWORDS:
Nucleus-Estate Small Holder Partnership, RCA, Cooperativa Café Timor
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.10 No.7,
July
10,
2019
ABSTRACT: Coffee is one of the superior agricultural
commodities in Timor Leste. It is cultivated by majority of smallholder farms. The
Cooperativa Cafe Timor (CCT) is the biggest company partner with local coffee
farmers in Timor Leste that facilitates farmers to apply good agricultural
practices to yield better production and quality, in turn higher price. The CCT
accounts for about 65 percent of Timor Leste’s coffee exports. This study aims
to firstly describe the type of partnership between coffee farmers and the CCT
in Timor Leste. Secondly, to examine the competitiveness of Timor Leste’s
coffee in the world market with selected producing countries. Based on the
rights and obligation between farmers and the CCT, it can be categorized as a
Nucleus-estate and Smallholder (NES) partnership model developed by the CCT and
the local coffee farmers. Results from Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA)
show that Timor Leste is not able to compete with Vietnam and Indonesia, but it
competes with the Philippines and Thailand. Nonetheless, Timor Leste coffee is
able to compete in the world market in terms of its quality with organic
certification.