We’re thrilled to announce that Watipa has been awarded a Scoping and Business Development grant from the DICE Fund of the British Council. We will be developing “Equal Grounds” – an exciting social enterprise and community development project involving coffee – with Rumah Cemara in Bandung, Indonesia. The DICE Fund is part of a wider two year programme, set up to tackle entrenched issues of unemployment and unequal economic growth in five emerging economies (Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil) and the UK.
Equal Grounds will cultivate social entrepreneurship and creative communication with disadvantaged young people in Bandung to develop their employability skills, boost local and ethical coffee production, and stimulate the local job market. We will be looking at all stages of coffee production from seed to bean to mouth. Or in other words, a holistic approach that will look at growing, farming, producing, marketing, serving and drinking coffee.
Indonesia is the 4th largest producer of coffee in the world in 2017 after Brazil, Columbia and Vietnam according to the International Coffee Organisation. Indonesia has 3 times the number of smallholder coffee farmers as Vietnam but only 1/3 of the coffee due to low farmer output and fragmented production base. For Indonesia to maintain the position as a leading coffee exporter requires boosting smallholder yields.
Indonesia is also one of the largest developing countries in the world, with a vibrant and dynamic social enterprise space. With approximately 20% of Indonesia’s young men and 33% of the young women being unemployed or not going to school, youth unemployment and under-employment is high. It is estimated that each year 2 million new job-seekers join Indonesia’s workforce.
Equal Grounds will be working with disadvantaged young people who mostly have no access to higher education, thus have very little chance to compete in the employment sector. Addressing gender inequality is one of Watipa’s founding principles, and we have a strong commitment to empowering women and girls throughout all of our work. We will therefore be looking in particular to support and enhance the role of disadvantaged young women in all stages of coffee production and ensure equal access to training, employment opportunities, and remuneration.
Enabling young people in Indonesia to have training, develop employability skills, and support in establishing their own enterprises will both expand opportunities for young people as well as contribute to enhancing the social sustainability of coffee production in Bandung. The partnership will also enable future Watipa scholars in Indonesia to connect with other young leaders and peer mentors in the Watipa community.
Watch this space for further updates and images as Equal Grounds develops in October and November 2018….
About our partners:
Rumah Cemara: In 2003, five former drug users formed Rumah Cemara to support each other and other people who inject drugs in Bandung and in Indonesia more broadly. Rumah Cemara hosts a rehabilitation centre and runs peer support groups for people living with HIV, people who use drugs, and people in prison. As well as the services they provide directly, Rumah Cemara supports other community organisations working with HIV and people who inject drugs with financial and technical support. They also work with sport for development, and take part in the national street football championship and the homeless world cup, to reduce HIV and drug use stigma across the globe. They are an accredited Linking Organisation of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies (DICE): is an ambitious programme that supports the development of creative and social enterprises in the UK and five key emerging economies: Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, and South Africa. DICE operates at policy, institutional and individual levels. It supports interventions that are co-designed and co-delivered by UK enterprises and sector support organisations such as impact hubs, accelerators and universities working in partnership with counterparts in these countries.