Coffee farm volunteer programs enable young people to explore rural areas

Yang Zhuoqing, 27, who is studying at the Minzu University of China, makes coffee at Yeyatang Valley coffee farm in Pu'er City, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua)

When sipping coffee at a modern cafe in the city, one does not associate the tantalizing aromas with rural coffee farms. However, the Yeyatang Valley coffee farm in southwest China's Yunnan Province offers young people across the country a rare opportunity to learn about coffee farming and production, and to explore rural life. In a volunteer program offered by the farm in Dakaihe Village in Pu'er City, coffee lovers can have a new experience in the coffee fields or right in front of the coffee tables. Coffee farming volunteer programs like this combine coffee tours with volunteer work, and they have become a new way for young people to learn about rural life in Yunnan. "Although the volunteer experience is short, it is full of charming coffee aromas," said Yang Zhuoqing, 27, who is studying at the Minzu University of China. Yang learned about the program while doing field research in Pu'er and has since joined. "It is not only from 'seed to cup,' but also from 'cup to brain.'" Pu'er City, famous for its ancient Tea Horse Road, wild ancient tea trees and Pu'er tea, has become the coffee-growing region with the largest planting area and highest output in China in recent years. In 2022, the coffee planting area in the city totaled 45,267 hectares, with a coffee yield totaling 55,700 tonnes and comprehensive output value of around 5.05 billion yuan (about 730 million U.S. dollars). "Many coffee farms now recruit volunteers to participate in the whole 'seed to cup' coffee production process, through which volunteers can learn about and participate in rural development through coffee," said Yang Hongjian, who was born in the 1990s and is the founder of the Yeyatang Valley coffee farm.

Yang is a former teacher whose father and grandfather were among the first large-scale coffee farmers in the region. As a third-generation coffee grower, he returned to the village in 2020 to build a coffee farm. He also established the volunteer platform One Cup of Yunnan with his partner Wang Guoliyi. "We integrate coffee farms or processing plants in need of volunteers, and we post on social media to recruit participants, who can choose their favorite places to volunteer," Wang said. Volunteer tasks include welcoming guests and making hand-brewed coffee. In return, they learn professional coffee processing techniques such as coffee picking, roasting and brewing on the farms, according to Wang. With the help of the One Cup of Yunnan platform, Yeyatang Valley coffee farm has attracted over 300 volunteers from across the country. "Most of the applicants are young people, mainly born in the 90s and after 2000," Wang said. In different seasons, the volunteers can participate in different kinds of work related to the cultivation of coffee. From mid-October to March, volunteers work the fields like farmers, loading ripe red coffee beans into sacks and transporting them to the processing plant. The volunteer project will help promote the integration of the coffee and tourism industries, bringing more people to these coffee-producing areas and promoting coffee from Pu'er, said Zhou Xiao, deputy director of the culture and tourism bureau of Simao District in Pu'er. ■

This photo taken on shows blooming coffee flowers at Yeyatang Valley coffee farm in Pu'er City, southwest China's Yunnan Province.