Firdaus and Harihadi, two young liberica coffee farmers whose businesses are supported by SKK Migas-PetroChina Jabung, shared their inspiring entrepreneurial journey to more than 1,000 young people attending SKK Migas Sumbagsel Webinar on Thursday, August 27, 2020.

The webinar, a joint program with news outlet Kumparan, brought the theme of millennial’s role in the oil and gas industry. Five groups of young entrepreneurs, who are supported by SKK Migas and other oil and gas companies, presented their programs. Chief of SKK Migas Sumbagsel Adiyanto Agus Handoyo, SKK Migas Deputy for Business Support Sulistya Hastuti Wahyu and businessman Sandiaga Uno also took part in the webinar as keynote speakers.

Firdaus and Harihadi are two of many young people who develop sustainable liberica coffee farms and Sukerojeo ecotourism project in Betara, Tanjung Jabung Barat, with the support of SKK Migas-PetroChina. As the third generation of coffee farmers, they are aspired to grow more than just coffee beans. “Our parents and grandparents only focused to sell the green coffee beans. But we want more. We want to put Betara on the map of tourism industry where people can visit our hometown and enjoy a true coffee-related experience,” said Harihadi.

The journey to Sukorejo ecotourism spot started in 2014, when SKK Migas-PetroChina trained a group of farmers to grow good quality liberica coffee beans. “We realized that we must improve the quality of our coffee beans because it is the core product of our business,” said Firdaus. SKK Migas-PetroChina supported the training and necessary equipment to process the coffee beans.

Through our community development programs in sustainable agriculture, we provided the upstream-to-downstream facility for the farmers to market their liberica coffee products. We also built a coffee shop which also acts as a center for other local products such as snacks and handicrafts.

“We love to call the coffee shop ‘Gerai UMKM’ and it is now the center of our business,” said Harihadi.

Firdaus, who returned home after graduating from a university in West Java, said that he was proud to develop coffee business in his hometown. “I hope more young people will return home and develop the local potential. It is challenging but worth your efforts. It gives me a sense of pride,” Firdaus added.

The webinar, first event hosted by SKK Migas Sumbagsel, invited more than 1,000 participants from several cities in Indonesia, many of them are university students or fresh graduates.

“In the future, young generations will have many roles in the upstream oil and gas industry. Not only will they become the main workforce that carry out the projects, they will become our partners in developing the communities. We will continue supporting the youth communities who work hard to develop the local potentials,” said Adiyanto.