Landell Mills supports the development and launch of Five-Year Marketing and Communications Plan for Timor-Leste’s coffee industry

In May 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) – now known as the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Forestry (MALFF) – launched the 2019-2030 National Coffee Sector Development Plan (NCSDP), with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Developed in cooperation with Asosiasaun Café Timor (ACT), the NCSDP outlines objectives and routes to realising success for the coffee industry across the eleven-year period. Differentiation in coffee production – achieved with quality improvement, sustainability certifications, and industry brand marketing – is a theme woven throughout the NCSDP.

To achieve the NCSDP’s initial goals, US$3 million – funded by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific was granted by ADB to the Government of Timor-Leste by way of the four-year Coffee and Agroforestry Livelihood Improvement Project (CALIP).

Landell Mills is implementing all three contracts under the CALIP, which are:

• Implementation Support Consultant (ISC), which is focused on target productivity and quality improvements in the coffee sector in Timor-Leste through a number of outputs.
• Agronomic Research and Testing Consultant (ARTC), which is focused on providing technical support to research and development specific to coffee variety and coffee technology sectors.
• Quality Improvement and Marketing Consultant (QIMC), which provides technical leadership and support to the development of a national quality standards and grading system, a coffee industry marketing plan, annual coffee quality competitions, and an information and knowledge platform.

A key initiative identified in the NCSDP, leading to differentiation and greater price premiums from trade, was to “develop a marketing and communications strategy for promoting Timor-Leste coffees”. In response to this, the QIMC team – in consultation with the Timor-Leste government, ACT, the private sector, and development partners – developed the Five-Year Marketing and Communications Plan for Timor-Leste’s coffee industry.

The plan was launched at an event held in February 2024 at Fatuquero, the MALFF coffee nursery that the CALIP is supporting. Members of MALFF, ACT, ADB, and development partners attended the event, which included:

• a presentation on the process involved in developing the Five-Year Marketing and Communications Plan, and an overview of the first year of activities.
• the official launching of the Five-Year Marketing and Communications Plan via the signing of the document by His Excellency, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Forestry, Mr. Marcos da Cruz.
• a coffee display, and tasting and coffee demonstration by baristas presented by ACT.
• a tour of the Fatuquero nursery and the CALIP master demonstration plot.

The plan provides a structured and strategic approach to reaching the industry’s collective goals and is intended to organise and focus marketing and communications activities that will benefit Timor-Leste’s coffee industry. It covers collective marketing goals; brand messaging; target markets; and marketing activities, including a specific section on the Festival Kafé Timor (FKT). A calendar of activities has also been developed, and the CALIP is providing support to the implementation of the first year of activities detailed in the plan.

Of the plan, His Excellency, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Forestry, Mr. Marcos da Cruz, said, “This will have congruent positive impacts on the coffee sector development in Timor-Leste where we can maximize the benefits that Timor-Leste’s naturally organic coffee provides to the coffee industry and increase the sector's contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product of the agriculture sector and the national economy as a whole.”