The magic power of Agri-Tech is bearing sweet fruits in the barren mountains.

The 2024 summer vocation, professor Mr. Wang jun-cheng from Institute of Service Science, National Tsing Hua University, leaded a group of 40 parents and children. They entered Jinshan Community in Guanxi Township, Hsinchu County, to explore the local scenes, aboriginal history, and experience coffee culture. They not only fast-forwarded through the scenes and listened to stories, but also wore AR Smart Glasses (Augmented Reality Smart Glasses) to simulate coffee bean picking and hand mining.

During the 3-day program called "Summer Primary School," the participants attended 8 classes in history, geography, biology, and drama. On the final day, they returned home with "a feast of knowledge, nature, and gourmet food."
 

Parent-child Team experienced mining with AR Glasses
The first term of the "Summer Primary School" program concluded with fresh and experimental elements, while incorporating significant technological aspects from the practical team at University Social Responsibility (USR), National Tsing Hua University. The team collaborated for two years with Mawudu Coffee Production Cooperative (M'utu Coffee) to establish the fundamental equipment for AR Smart Glasses and an Electronic Nose (an odor detector).

Since the 1950s, the Mawudu tribe has been involved in lime mining, which has resulted in ecosystem depletion over time. Following a long period of protest by the residents, lime mining was finally ceased. After mining operations stopped, the Hsinchu County Guanxi Township Jinshan Community Development Association proactively began developing the unique community industry. This initiative focuses on cultivating and processing coffee beans to create local employment opportunities, attract young people back to the area to stimulate the local economy, and ultimately foster a sustainable ecosystem and coffee tourism operation.

Mawudu Coffee Production Cooperative, initiated in 2020 and officially established the following year, is a joint business of the Jinshan Community Development Association. The cooperative's name reflects its primary purpose: to develop the coffee industry. However, before this initiative, the income sources for the Jinshan residents were the mining area rents from the cement factory and citrus harvest.

The chairman of Jinshan Community Development Association, Mr. Lin Fa-gan, recalled the protest that the residents came together against the cement factory's re-mining a decade ago. However, after the protests, a realistic question such as "take care of the locals' livelihood" arose, especially since the citrus revenue was gradually declining.

"In our most prosperous period, trucks were waiting outside the fruit farm every day. Once a truck was filled, it drove to Kaohsiung." Mr. Lin fa-gan explained, although the Tangor is small, it tastes very sweet." However, due to the high cost of labor, the number of Tangor frames has been reduced drastically.

However, those hard-working Tangor farmers don't want to rest on the situation; Therefore, the leading elders, Mr. Zhang Xin-rong and Mr. Luo Zheng-hong, tried to grow tea flowers and introduced coffee trees. They shared and discussed the growing knowledge whenever they met up, and learned from each other's experiences. Mr. Luo Zheng-hong was the prior chairman of the Association. He has a great responsibility to benefit the locals through "Community Revitalization."
 

Capture the National Beverage Market and Build Private Label Brands
Since coffee trees don't need pesticides, the Association encourages its members to practice organic farming, which is friendly to the land. Unlike farmers who intensively spray pesticides and have to hire temporary workers for help during the harvesting period, which lasts up to four months, the organic farmers have a harvest period of 4 months, which greatly reduces labor costs. The most important point is that since the fame of Alishan and Yunlin-Gukeng coffee, coffee has been a national beverage. According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Taiwanese people consumed 725,000 packages of coffee per year (60kg per package). The annual coffee consumption totaled about 2.85 billion cups, with an average of 122 cups per person per year, and an annual increase of 1.6% since 2018. Mawudu Coffee Production Cooperative actively invited experts to hold classes, introduced counseling resources from the government, and recruited talents to build a tertiary industry foundation for its brand.

In 2020, Jinshan Community Development Association applied for the 3-year "Multi-Employment Promotion Program" from the Taoyuan-Hsinchu-Miaoli Regional Branch of the Workforce Development Agency, the Ministry of Labor. It hires 5 staff from the middle-aged and elderly group, 18-year-old suspended students, and returning aborigines. Those staff together took the whole responsibility of the coffee shop's operation and marketing.

Mr. Lin Fa-gan confessed that although the staff were full of passion for the cafe. However, they can only do the foundation during the three years of COVID-19. "The staff called out to ask about the cafe trial sales, invited school teams to visit, and designed the product packaging and marketing plan. But they lacked certain levels of professionalism, and the results lagged". It was not until March 2021 that the staff hosted the coffee festival and finally found the breakthrough key.
 

Introduce Smart Technology to Produce Products Good as High-Altitude Coffee
The first step is to control the product quality from the source. Mr. Song Ming-guang, the chairman of the Association's board, resigned from his prior role as an information manager at an IPO company to establish the cooperative. He admits that the elevation of the Jinshan community is not high enough to grow the same kind of coffee beans as Alishan does. Therefore, the cooperative emphasizes the idea of "friendly farming," which is supported by its coffee farmers.

The next step is developing a scientific brain and people networking. The team asked professors Huang Neng-fu and Wang Jun-cheng of Tsinghua University to build the data-based processing for production line management, such as introducing electronic nose to monitor fermentation acidity data in real time, so as accurately monitor the coffee's acidity with technology; On the hand, the USR team is experimenting a model that combines sustainable tourism and innovative education.

"Before, the coffee farmers used their experience to decide how good the coffee bean was. However, our natural altitude is not high enough, and we lack industry experience, so we have to introduce technology to catch up. " Mr. Song told, "The E-nose assists the anaerobic fermentation of coffee, controlling the pH value, temperature, humidity, and other variables to stabilize the coffee quality." The result is Mawudu's score in the Cupping Test 2022, which organized by Guanxi Township Office, increased to 83.9 compared to the score of 70+ last year. "The taste of our coffee isn't inferior to the coffee produced at high altitudes." In 2024, the Cooperative applied for a new three-year "Multi-Employment Promotion Program" successfully.
 

The Path of Science Farmer Creates Higher Productivity and More Jobs
The Jinshan Community has embarked on a path of industrial transformation and delivered positive results over the past decade. Looking forward, Mr. Song Ming-guang expects the productivity will reach NT$20 million by 2025. After accounting for the NT$12 million cost associated with supporting the coffee farmers, the remaining NT$8 million will be sufficient to generate 8 to 10 jobs aimed at local revitalization and attracting innovative farmers eager to leverage technology to enhance their hometowns. "There are at least 1 to 2 students from National Tsing Hua University willing to be."

Now, Jiufen is a tourist hotspot, but it has taken 40 years from an abandoned mining area to a tourist destination." Mr. Song Ming-guang said, "We don't want to involved in the same dilemma, so we try to use the sources from the government and private sector well. "The cooperative's goal is to generate 50% of business revenue, guide tours at 20%, and rely on less than a third of the government's subsidies. Looking towards the future, the cooperative aims to become self-operating and self-sufficient.
Official Facebook Page of Hsinchu County Guanxi Township Jinshan Community Development Association
Official Website of Mawudu Coffee Production Cooperative (M'utu Coffee)
 

Ms. Chen Yu-xia: Even If the Tourists Only Visit for A Day, It Is a Win-win Situation  Ms. Chen Yu-xia, born in 1973, is the project manager of the Mawudu Coffee Production Cooperative and a self-deprecating "deserter" in the workplace. After teaching for two decades and working in the fire bureau, she resigned and returned to Jinshan Community as an organic farmer to provide a warmer home for her four dogs.   From being a non-coffee drinker to understanding coffee, from growing coffee in the production area to brewing a cup of coffee, Ms. Chen's standard for selecting employees is "zero experience." Although it could cost time to train the employees, it could open and transform their minds. Building up Mawudu Coffee Production Cooperative is a long-term battle; however, once it's good for the community, "Although the tourists only visit for a day, it's a win-win situation." (Photo by Lin Ying-cheng)

 

▲"Summer Primary School" is a three-day, two-night trip for parents and children, which takes them to explore the scenes of the Mawudu tribe, aboriginal history, and experience coffee culture (Provided by M'utu Coffee)

▲"Summer Primary School" lets parents and children collaborate on filtering tea (Provided by M'utu Coffee)

▲Children experience farming through the actual operation of tea kneading (Provided by M'utu Coffee)

▲Transformed from a former mine into a coffee plantation, the Jinshan Community Development Association has given the Mawudu tribe a new look (Photo by Lin Ying-cheng)
 

Case Story: Multi-Employment Promotion Program
Interviewee: Hsinchu County Guanxi Township Jinshan Community Development Association