This coffee was produced by smallholders in 16 villages around Ywangan Township, Shan State, in the Eastern Midlands of Myanmar.
Smallholders grow coffee in their backyards, in villages with an elevation between 1098 masl and 1534 masl.
Ywangan communities do not use any kind of chemical pesticide or fertiliser. Their trees don't have any diseases, which we can confirm by the quality of their cherries. The only product they add to the soil is cattle and chicken manure.
Region
Ywangan is part of the Taunggyi District and it's also part of the Danu Self-Administered Zone, as stipulated by the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar.
It consists of two townships in Shan State: Pindaya and Ywangan. The zone is managed by people who belong to the Danu Ethnic group.
Of 125 villages in Ywangan Township, about 90 are engaged in coffee production, with 7,300 acres of coffee in total. Farmers of the region began growing coffee in the early 1980s as a substitute crop for poppy.
Farmers here typically own a quarter of an acre and up to three acres of land. They grow Arabica coffee and other crops such as avocado, jackfruit, jengkol beans, papaya, pineapple, passion fruits, banana, tea leaf and macadamia.
Coffee helped to develop the region in recent years, especially since Myanmar emerged to the world as a specialty coffee origin.
Nowadays, farmers have access to better prices inside the country and overseas. Collective farmer initiatives flourished, creating space for new actors in the domestic coffee sector, especially new processors.
Despite all the recent progress in Myanmar, smallholders continue to face challenges. Rain and hail reduced productivity in certain villages in 2023. Producers also need better maintenance of trees to avoid increasingly low yields, a problem seen across the country.
Lack of rural infrastructure also challenges coffee production, from poor access to fresh water sources to navigating unpaved roads in bad conditions.
MCG buying structure
MCG is one of Myanmar's main actors in the specialty coffee sector. We increased prices of cherries from around 300MMK per viss (1 viss = 1.63kg) to 600MMK.
Last year, our price went from 900MMK to 1100 MMK. In 2023, we're seeing the highest cherry price in the history of Myanmar coffee, going from 2200 MMK to 2500 MMK per viss.
U Thint Lwin, a retired Agriculture Officer working in coffee since 2012, is MCG's cherry purchasing agent in Ywangan. MCG pre-finances village-level collectors before the harvest with advanced payments for an agreed quality.
During the harvest season, U Thint Lwin visits each village to ensure farmers are only picking ripe cherries and coordinates collection points to send coffee up north to MCG’s processing facility in Pyin Oo Lwin.
Many smallholders also produce Dry Naturals on a small scale, thanks to an initiative supported by MCG through start-up and seasonal costs since 2015.
MCG advances the money to the cherry-buying agent, who repays collectors for their cherries. Collectors are local representatives or leaders chosen by farmers.
Payment occurs when each village delivers 500 visses (815 kg) of cherry, usually every second delivery. We have five deliveries per week on average.
Villages
1. Sin Nat Chaung Village
Representatives: Mr Tay Tay and Mrs Ni Ni Myint
2. Kyauk Ku Pyin Village
Representative: Mrs Mar Mar Toe and Mrs Ma Lay
3. Nwar Ban Gyi Village
Representative: Mrs Ma Kyu
4. Doke Htoe Yay Village
Representative: Mr Mg Than
5. Kyauk Pon Village
Representative: Mrs Su Wai
6. Kyauk Kuu Ti Village
Representatives: Mrs Ni Kwee and Mr. Soe Hlaing
7. Hta Min Paung Village
Representative: Mr Aung Lwin
8. Oak Twin Village
Representative: Mrs Ma Oo
9. Kyauk Ngat Village
Representatives: Mrs Ma Khine and Mr Phoe Kyaw
10. Dala Pin Village
Representatives: Mr Tin Than, Mrs Ma Nge and Mrs Ma Thin
11. Thein Gone Village
Representative: Mrs Htar Nyo
12. Ngwe Taung Village
Representatives: Mr Aung Pew and Mr Thein Tun
13. Inn Gyi Village
Representative: Mr Kim Chaw
14. Yay Oo Village
Representative: Mrs Ma Cho
15. Ka Zat Village
Representative: Mrs Hnin Mar Yi
16. Pway Na Phar Village
Representative: Mr Tin Kho
