Community forest management of Arabica coffee based on local and modern ecological knowledge

Abstract Coffee farmers, members of Kramatjaya Forest Farmers Group in Garut Regency West Java, use Perhutani’s land to cultivate Arabica coffee. Apart from being a conservation area, this land is also arable volcanic soil and requires proper management that prioritizes coffee agribusiness aspects as well as ecological aspects, based on local and modern knowledge. This study implemented a knowledge management approach to reveal an understanding of local and modern ecological knowledge management in community coffee business practices. Empirical data were obtained through in-depth interviews and FGD. The research results show that for the last 10 years farmers have been utilizing Perhutani’s land to cultivate Arabica coffee by implementing modern coffee equipment and also adopting local ecological knowledge in each sub-system. Local knowledge in the production sub-system is demonstrated by terracing systems. In the sub-processing system, local knowledge is used in coffee processing using traditional methods, along with uses modern equipment. The study also shows that knowledge generation derived from external and internal sources, knowledge transfer came from the role of community leader and field school training, and knowledge application of coffee processing used modern technology through community leader networks.