Celebrating Fairtrade in Buffalo

Ibu Rahmah’s dad was a coffee farmer and trader. So was her grandfather. And her great-grandfather. Since coffee came to the Gayo Highlands in 1908, it has become deeply embedded in both family tradition and the local economy. So, for Ibu Rahmah, Chairwoman of the Ketiara Cooperative, coffee is much more than a morning beverage. It is integral to her community’s identity.

The Gayo Highlands are in the Central Aceh region of Sumatra, an island of Indonesia. The landscape is shaped by the presence of coffee farms, coffee warehouses and coffee factories. Ibu Rahmah recalls, “From a young age, I observed the processes of planting, caring for, harvesting and processing coffee.”

Upon graduating high school, Ibu Rahmah joined her parents in the coffee business, and throughout her career, she has used coffee as a force for pushing the needle on gender equality. She notes, “In my parents’ era, women stayed at home raising the kids, sweeping the floor, doing laundry, and cooking. I want all women in Central Aceh to be independent–equal with men.” With Ibu Rahmah as their chairperson, Ketiara is a woman-led cooperative–and nearly 40% of its formal membership is comprised of women. Ibu Rahmah reflects that prior to Ketiara’s founding, “I saw that women in the Gayo Highlands only stayed at home waiting–waiting for their husbands’ earnings. So, by joining the cooperative and Fairtrade, we routinely gather with other women.” Her words gesture towards the truth that we are more powerful–economically, socially and environmentally–when we come together in our efforts at justice.

One thing that’s unique about Ketiara is that the cooperative doesn’t rely on a middleman to export their coffee. Rather, they draw upon Ibu Rahmah’s notable status as one of the only woman coffee traders in Central Aceh and retain a greater share of their hard-earned profits. They export 70% of their coffee beans to the United States. The remaining 30% of exports go to France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea.

Names are powerful. So, it catches our attention that the Gayo word “tiara” means “to exist.” It’s an apt testament to the centrality of coffee in the lives of the members of the Ketiara Cooperative.

We are deeply grateful for Ibu Rahmah’s commitment to creating more space for women to participate in the coffee world. That’s why we’re collaborating with artist Julia Bottoms to portray Ibu Rahmah’s likeness on the walls of Lexington Co-op Markets in Buffalo, NY–where you can also find Fairtrade certified roasts from Gimme! Coffee, a (cooperatively structured!) brand that sources beans from the Ketiara Cooperative.

Julia Bottoms is visual artist based out of Buffalo, NY working primarily in oils and acrylic. Her work often addresses the topic of race and identity as it relates to one’s position in mainstream culture. She views her portraits as an opportunity to counter the harmful stigmas and stereotypes imposed by popular media. Some of her most notable projects include a collaboration with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly known as the Albright Knox) for The Freedom Wall, the Mamie Smith Memorial Mural in Cincinnati Ohio, and her most recent exhibition’s A Light Under The Bushel at Burchfield Penney Art Center, and Before And After, Again at The AKG Art Museum. Her work has been featured in EBONY, The New York Times, The Public, The Buffalo Spree, The Challenger, HBO’s Insecure, online through AfroPunk, and and most recently she was mentioned in Time Magazine. Additionally her work has been acquired in the permanent collections of the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the Flint Institute of Art, and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

Lexington Co-op Markets was founded in 1971 by a group of community  members – owners – looking for access to fresh, organic, and locally sourced foods. Over the years, they’ve learned a few things about running a community-focused store, growing a shared economy, and supporting farmers–locally and globally, too. Today, with two stores in Buffalo, NY, Lexington Co-op is proud to be 20,000 member-owners strong—and committed as ever to their cooperative values.