Find out about our farmers
Cafe Brisa Serena supports Coffee Farming Families to improve their coffee quality and production. We work with a total of 404 Coffee Farmers divided up into 33 groups in the Sub-district of Letefoho, District of Ermera, Timor Leste.
Sub District of Letefoho,
District of Ermera,
Timor Leste
Letefoho, Timor-Leste
Timor Leste’s Finest Coffee Plantation Farmers
Read more about our Farmers below
Teresa Fatima de Deus Maia
Featured Coffee Farmer
Farmers & Group Leader LEBEDO LETEN – Formed 2003
Coffee variety – Arabica (Hybrido de Timor, Typica)
Meet our farmer, Teresa Fatima de Deus Maia, mother of two and group leader from Lebudu Leten, Letefoho, Ermera Municipal. Teresa Maia is one of our smallholder farmers in Letefoho and she is an inspirational farmer who is working towards quality coffee production. Teresa is leading one of the farmers’ groups started by Peace-Winds Japan in 2003. She has 11 members with total farm area of 17 hectares and they produce organic Arabica coffee.
“We are able to use income from our coffee to purchase food, build our house, send our children to school and repay our loan.” – Teresa Maia
During coffee season, Teresa will take the time to visit different farms and help monitor processing done by her group members. In addition to being made available at Letefoho Specialty Coffee Roaster, coffee from Teresa’s group is also exported overseas. Her leadership and active participation in coffee reflects her motivation and determination to improve her living through quality coffee production, where she hopes to generate better income for her family and her group members.
Last year, with support from Peace-Winds Japan and Café Brisa Serena Unipessoal, Teresa was selected to participate for a coffee TV Program “To’os Kafe” organised by Timor-Leste Coffee Association with support from development partners. During the TV Program she was able to work and exchange knowledge between farmers and baristas and learn more about primary coffee processing from an International Coffee Expert from Colombia. In October 2018, she also participated in the closing ceremony for Festival Kafe Timor and worked with baristas from Letefoho Specialty Coffee Roaster to promote Lebudu Leten Coffee.
Rogerio Maia de Deus
Featured Coffee Farmer
Farmers & Group Leader LACAU 1 – Formed 2003
Coffee variety – Arabica (Hybrido de Timor, Typica)
Rogerio Maia de Deus, is a group leader from Lacau. He has joined the farmers group since 2003. Since joining the farmers group, Rogerio and his members is able to sell their coffee with a better price and noticed quality improvement in their coffee. After received training on quality processing, Rogerio can produce high quality coffee, which is high value added coffee and sell them in parchment. In return, they can receive better price and use the money to support their life.
“We used to sell coffee cherry, instead of parchment in the past before joining farmers group in Letefoho. When we were asked to sell the coffee in parchment, many farmers were still hesitant, as it requires additional work and care. We have to select only the red cherry and process it to parchment through careful selection in order to produce high quality coffee. But, at the end, we are satisfied with the result as we noticed there is quality improvement in our coffee and we receive payment for the additional work through the coffee payment.” – Rogerio
Recently, Rogerio helped to form new farmers group called Mautilo with 17 coffee farmers. With his knowledge in quality processing and as a group leader he is able to teach new members about quality processing and support other coffee farmers in his Suco.