SpiceUp Indonesia SpiceUp - Geodata for sustainable pepper farming SpiceUp will implement a financially sustainable information service that supports 100,000 pepper farmers in Indonesia to increase their production, income, food security, and optimize
their inputs of water, fertilizers and pesticides. Pepper is a smallholder estate crop and a labor-intensive commodity that is mainly cultivated in Lampung for black pepper, and Bangka Belitung and Kalimantan for white pepper. Pepper is also cultivated in Sulawesi, Java and other areas in Sumatra. In the past, Indonesia was the leading producer and exporter of black and white pepper in the world; however, in recent years, Indonesia has lost its leading position to Vietnam. Many factors have contributed to the decline in production. For example, instability of price, climate change and pepper farmers lack of knowledge on Good Agricultural Practices, resulting in low productivity, plant diseases, lack of quality seeds and difficulties with water supply. Educating pepper farmers on these issues is crucial to ensure farmers are able to gain a sustainable income from pepper farming.

Partnership
The SpiceUp consortium consists of eight public and private organisations including: Verstegen Spices and Sauces BV (lead), ICCO Cooperation, Nelen and Schuurmans, VanderSat, Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB Bogor Agricultural Institute), Akvo, PT. Cinquer Agro Nusantara (PT CAN), and Balittro.
SpiceUp is a Geodata for Agriculture and Water (G4AW) project supported by the Netherlands Space Office (NSO). SpiceUp is the implementation of a financially sustainable information service that supports 100,000 pepper farmers to increase their production, income, food security and reduces the inputs of water, fertilizer and pesticides. The information service which will be provided contains the following:

1.	Drought/Irrigation advice: Indicator for farmers on moisture level in soil and expected rainfall. The service will guide the farmer if irrigation is needed for this phase of the crop or if they can rely on predicted rainfall.

2.	Fertilizer advice: Based on quick field tests supported by lab tests, which allows for the creation of accurate soil maps. These maps show the availability of the N and P nutrients in the farmer’s field. Based on predicted rain, pepper variety and lack of nutrient and fertilizer advice will be presented to the farmer.

3.	Good Agricultural Practices Advice: Farmers in the targeted area will benefit from more basic instruction on how to grow pepper (how to prepare land and apply fertilizer). The advice will be provided by the information application which will be set up.

4.	Sustainable Tracing System: Farmers will become more valued by potential buyers. Traceability in pepper is requested by end buyers of pepper. Farmers can receive a premium per kg. Farmers can also know who the buyers are and what their buying price is.
G4AW:     http://g4aw.spaceoffice.nl/en/                   NSO:    http://www.spaceoffice.nl/en/

100,000 pepper farmers in Bangka-Belitung (40,000), Lampung (50,000), West and East Kalimantan (10,000). In addition, a total of 1,000 users/stakeholders like farmer groups, pepper collectors, pepper exporters, NGOs and governments will be reached. The service will eventually be owned and hosted by the company Verstegen with support from the public-private Dutch and Indonesian partners. The services can easily be extended to other countries, which is the ambition of Verstegen. The business proposition contains 3 business models; loyalty model, inclusive model and direct revenue model. 

1. Loyalty model: Farmers who sell pepper to Verstegen through PT CAN and other suppliers will be able to get SpiceUp services as part of this loyalty. 

2. Inclusive model: Under the Inclusive Business Model, farmers who purchase farm inputs like fertilizers or pesticides from dealers or farm inputs from Verstegen partners, PT CAN, PT Meroke Tetap Jaya (Indonesia) and Horti Supplies International (The Netherlands), their dealers and retailers will be able to receive SpiceUp services as a bonus for purchasing their products.

3. Direct Revenue model: Under the Direct Revenue Model, farmers who did not buy inputs from Verstegen’s partners or those who do not yet supply pepper to the company, have to buy and pay for the services themselves. B2B clients like pepper collectors and MFIs, NGOs and government agencies, who need to acquire the services or get access to the web portal on behalf of their target clients or constituents, will also have to purchase SpiceUp directly from Verstegen SpiceUp will target two groups: pepper farmers and business-to-business (B2B) clients, and focuses on three locations in Lampung, Bangka Belitung and Kalimantan. Of the reported 218,000 pepper farmers in these locations, SpiceUp aims to reach 100,000 farmers to become SpiceUp information service subscribers within three years.

Information Services
Four information services will be provided via various channels including SMS and Mobile App.

These services include:
1- Water Management Advice: This advice will guide farmers if, for example, irrigation is needed for this phase of the crop cycle or if they can rely on the forecasted rainfall.
2- Fertilizer Advice: Recommendations on type and amount of fertilizer based on soil analysis and pepper variety.
3- Good Agricultural Practices (GAP): Customized advice on how to cultivate peppers, including how to prepare their land and how to effectively apply pesticides.
4- Sustainability Tracing System: This system allows for the registration and tracing of pepper produced by farmers in the project locations, including sustainability information at
plot level.