The Role of Youth as Agent of Change in Empowering Coffee Farmers in Dieng Mountains

Abstract

This study aims to determine youth's role as agents of change. This type of research is a qualitative descriptive study. Determination of informants in this study used purposive sampling—data collection techniques employed observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The data analysis technique utilized was the interactive model data analysis by Miles and Huberman. The results showed that young people in the Dieng Mountains have tried to play their role as agents of change in empowering coffee farmers quite well. It could be seen from the aspect of youth's role as the development driver, village assistants, and village independence pioneers, which were quite good. However, farmers' participation in the empowerment program was classified as very low, which was only 4%, while those who did not participate were 96%. The coffee farmers' low participation level was caused by the absence of a synergistic relationship between the coffee farmers’ empowerment stakeholders in Tombo Village. Thus forcing the emergence of ARC obstacles in empowering coffee farmers, including a limited budget, infrastructure, and no village government policies that support the development of coffee farming in Tombo Village. The output of this research is expected to contribute to improving the welfare of coffee farmers in Indonesia, especially in Tombo Village.