The slopes of Mount Arjuno in Batu City have experienced significant land degradation due to the conversion of forest to vegetable farming. The practice of seasonal farming causes a decrease in groundwater absorption, increased risk of erosion and flooding, and decreased soil quality. To respond to these problems, State University of Malang together with BUMDESMA Giri Arjuna initiated a coffee agribusiness development program as a community-based solution oriented towards environmental conservation and improving local economic welfare. This research explores the results of community service conducted with a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and business partnership approach. The results show that coffee cultivation is able to increase production from 4 tons to 8 tons per year, encourage economic added value through product diversification, strengthen village institutional capacity, and accelerate environmental conservation efforts. It recommends this collaborative model as a replication strategy for the revitalization of other degraded forest areas, in order to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) point 15: Life on Land.
Abbas et al. (Fri,) studied this question.