Indonesia Coffee Enterprise Resilience Initiative (Resilient Coffee) Quarterly Report 8

The program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Root Capital. The initiative focuses on four key outcomes: strengthening business management capacity, implementing new and/or improved policies to remove barriers to gender inclusion, adopting digital solutions to improve business management and resilience, and improving the quality and efficiency of coffee production. During the October-December 2023 reporting period, Resilient Coffee provided Business Management Advisory (BMA) services to 14 coffee SMEs, including four SMEs that received customized BMA training to improve their internal controls and taxation. The training focused on internal controls, taxation, and loan application support, and a total of 5.26 days of training was completed. Root Capital also provided advisory services to these SMEs, including support for loan applications and the development of advisory work plans. In addition to BMA services, Resilient Coffee provided Gender Equity Advisory (GEA) services to four coffee SMEs, including two days and six hours of GEA training. The majority of advisory time focused on conducting gender gaps diagnostics for three of the four clients, while the remaining hours were devoted to supporting one client in the development of inclusive policies and practices. Root Capital also completed the monitoring baseline for Gender Equity Grants (GEG) and drafted preliminary gender equity action plans for two clients. Resilient Coffee also implemented digital solutions to improve business management and resilience, including the adoption of online accounting systems by two SMEs. The adoption of these systems enabled the SMEs to validate financial data, generate official financial reports, and provide management with data to ensure internal controls. However, challenges to optimal operation of these systems included continued reliance on manual bookkeeping practices and unstable internet networks. Root Capital disbursed a total of $885,225 USD in loans to six SMEs during the reporting period. The program also monitored a bankability Resilience Grant made to PT Belift Spesialti Kopi to improve production quality and efficiency. Belift plans to purchase equipment and upgrades to its power supply and server capacity to ensure better quality control during reception of goods from partner producers. The program has made significant progress in achieving its outcomes, including the strengthening of business management capacity, the implementation of new and/or improved policies to remove barriers to gender inclusion, and the adoption of digital solutions to improve business management and resilience. However, challenges remain, including the need to continue providing support to SMEs in the development of their internal controls and taxation practices, and the need to address the challenges faced by clients in integrating learnings from gender trainings into their operations and policies. Root Capital will continue to provide support to SMEs in the coffee sector in Indonesia, including the provision of BMA and GEA services, the adoption of digital solutions, and the improvement of the quality and efficiency of coffee production. The program will also continue to monitor and evaluate its progress, including the completion of the monitoring baseline for GEG and the drafting of preliminary gender equity action plans for two clients. The program has also made significant progress in achieving its geographic focus, with activities implemented in Aceh and Java. The program has also made significant progress in achieving its timeframes, with the majority of activities implemented during the October-December 2023 reporting period. However, challenges remain, including the need to continue providing support to SMEs in the development of their internal controls and taxation practices, and the need to address the challenges faced by clients in integrating learnings from gender trainings into their operations and policies. Overall, Resilient Coffee has made significant progress in achieving its outcomes and has demonstrated its commitment to enhancing the resilience of SMEs in the coffee sector in Indonesia. The program will continue to provide support to SMEs in the development of their internal controls and taxation practices, and will continue to address the challenges faced by clients in integrating learnings from gender trainings into their operations and policies.