Clove Trees Thrive in Indonesia
On the lush island of Ternate in eastern Indonesia, clove trees have stood tall for generations. These trees grow near the steep sides of Mount Gamalama, a volcano whose rich soil has helped clove farming thrive for centuries. The small flower buds picked from these trees are not just spices. They’re also used in medicine, perfumes, cigarettes, and food flavourings.
Indonesia grows more cloves than any other country, producing over two-thirds of the world’s supply. The island of Ternate has a deep and proud history with this crop. Long ago, when foreign colonial powers tried to control the clove trade, farmers secretly planted cloves to keep the tradition alive.
Today, however, the biggest threat is not foreign powers. It’s the changing weather.
Rain, Heat, and the Trouble They Bring
Clove trees are very picky about their environment. They need just the right amount of sun and rain to grow their fragrant buds. But now, the weather isn’t acting the way it used to.
The rainfall in Ternate has become more intense and unpredictable. Sometimes it doesn’t rain for weeks. Then, suddenly, heavy rain pours down all at once, damaging crops and soaking the buds before they can be harvested. This kind of weather confuses the trees, which are used to steady patterns. When it’s too wet or too hot, the cloves lose their special smell and flavour.
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In the past, one good tree could produce up to 30 kilograms of cloves in a season. That’s a lot of spice! But now, bad weather is happening more often. This means the harvest is smaller and harder to predict. Prices for cloves swing up and down between USD 5.30 and USD 7.40 per kilogram, making it hard for farmers to plan or earn a steady income.
Clove trees also take a very long time to grow — over ten years to start producing flowers. But if the weather doesn’t cooperate during the short harvest window in August and September, a whole year’s effort can be lost.
Fewer Buds, More Struggles
The impact of this changing climate is clear in the fields and in the homes of the farmers. Many of them are struggling to make ends meet. Some used to fill five or six sacks of cloves in one harvest. Now they are lucky to fill two or three. Others say drying the cloves, which once took just over three days, now takes five or more because of too much rain.
With smaller harvests and falling prices, clove farming is becoming less profitable. More and more farmers are looking for side jobs. Some sell bamboo or make spice drinks to earn extra money. Others are even thinking about leaving farming behind because of the high costs and low returns.
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Exporters and spice sellers are also feeling the effects. When the weather is too hot or too wet, the quality of cloves drops. Bad cloves are harder to sell, especially to other countries like China. In some cases, prices have dropped by nearly half during harvest seasons because the supply was so poor.
Official records show that clove production in Indonesia has dropped sharply since 2010. In fact, in recent years, the country has fallen behind Madagascar in exporting cloves, even though it still grows the most. One study found that on a nearby island, rainfall had increased by 15 per cent in recent decades, along with more extreme weather events that harm crops.
This all adds up to a growing crisis for the people of Ternate, whose families have grown cloves for generations. Some farmers say they continue because of pride — because their parents and grandparents worked these same trees, and because they want to keep the tradition alive for their children.
But even tradition may not be enough if the weather keeps changing.
