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The coffee fields are close to villages: across a lane, At the dinner before our departure, a representative
neighboring a house, or next to a school. These small of the cooperative said with tears in his eyes, “Thank
fields are normally cultivated on a family basis, with you for coming here and bringing our coffee to China. I
each family owning a modest area of about 1-2 acres. am very touched.”
Families usually establish a cooperative to process beans When coffee is poured into the cup, it may have gone
and sell products together. through 28 pairs of hard-working hands (maybe more) –
The cooperative we visited consisted of some 1,000 planting, picking, screening, processing, roasting, brewing
families, who must abide by coffee processing guidelines and more. Though the number is just a concept, it reveals
and workplace management requirements. the specialized effort that goes into a good cup of coffee.
Each bean will go through countless hands and ma- Recalling the 3-day journey in the Gayo origin, what
chines prior to export. The procedures include hand-pick- touched us the most were the smiles of coffee farmers,
ing, flotation, wet-hulling method, machine screening, and in addition to the good coffee. They greeted us with
manual screening. Usually, good coffee berries picked by smiles, drew us closer, and then said goodbye to us. When
female farmers in the morning will go through pulp remov- we complimented their coffee, they smiled as sweetly as
al right in the afternoon. After the first batch of flaw beans ripe coffee berries.
is selected by flotation, the remaining will be processed Gayo is a treasure land for coffee, coffee is a treasure
with wet-hulling, followed by multiple rounds of machine fruit for farmers. The joy of agriculture lies in feeling the
and manual screening, including exclusion sieve, gravity change of the seasons. Hope all of us will have opportuni-
sieve, size sieve and color sieve. Before the final export, ties to visit the Gayo origin again and again, and share the
the humidity will be checked for the last time. circulated happiness with local coffee farmers.
The coffee planting industry also reflects the wisdom
of Gayo farmers. While there, I observed coffee trees tow-
ering almost as high as a person. The farmers explained that
this height control practice aims to prevent the trees from
becoming excessively tall, which could lower their fruiting
rate. Additionally, maintaining the trees at a manageable
height makes harvesting more efficient for them. Essential-
ly, the trees are allowed to grow to a certain height, after
which some branches are pruned to keep them at that level.

Farmers’ Happiness Circulates with Sea-
sons

Maybe because it was the harvest season, every coffee
farmer we met had a smile of pride and fulfillment. With
enthusiasm and sincerity in their eyes, it was as if they were
telling us, “Look, this is coffee we’ve made with our sweat
and hard work, and we’d like to share the fruits with you.” Gayo is a treasure
“My parents also grow coffee,” a young coffee farmer
named Faqih said, his face beaming. “I’m happy to live here land for coffee,
and learn a lot about coffee.”
Murdhani Yusuf, head of the cooperative, was also coffee is a treasure
attracted by Gayo to live here. “The weather is good, and the
coffee is nice. There are many different ethnic groups in fruit for farmers.
Gayo. We make a living from farming, and it’s an easy life.”
While wandering around the village, we noticed that The joy of
every room in every house was quite empty with very
little furniture, just enough for daily needs. Annie, who agriculture lies in
was traveling with us, explained that locals like to sit on feeling the change
the floor, so the living room would be very empty. At that
moment, we could echo a little bit about why Murdhani of the seasons.
loves this place.

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