In the mist-covered highlands of Lawas, Sarawak, a question emerged among the Lun Bawang community.
Could coffee cherries and heirloom rice, long treated as ordinary crops, sustain them in a different way?
The question soon found its way to Jenny Alau Baru. She never expected to be drawn into a community effort that would transform the village.
Jenny, 47, is a tailor, baker, mother, former kindergarten teacher, and former marketer from Long Sukang.
She never set out to become a central figure in the Lun Bawang community’s economic revival. She often describes herself as someone who “got the ball rolling”, rather than someone who led the charge.
Yet, when discussion began about organising coffee and rice farmers under a cooperative, she was among those approached to help bring the community on board.
“I turned it down at first,” she recalled quietly. “I wanted to focus on my children.”
Everything changed after a conversation with Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) researcher Dr Shahrina Md Nordin, who helped her see that leadership and motherhood did not have to stand in opposition. That conversation planted a seed she could not ignore, eventually leading her to step forward.
When belief had no proof yet
As former president of the Koperasi Usahasama Long Sukang Lawas Berhad (2022 – 2025), Jenny’s real challenge was not agricultural, but trust.
Working alongside UTP researchers and community development partners, she found herself tasked with convincing villagers to believe in something that had yet to prove itself.
The plan looked simple on paper. Organise small farmers, improve processing, and build a market for coffee and rice under a cooperative identity that would later become LINAWA.
Coffee and rice had always been part of life in the Lawas highlands. What changed was the belief that these crops could support a sustainable livelihood beyond subsistence farming.
Not everyone was convinced. Many farmers questioned whether buyers would ever come. Others, having seen past initiatives fade, were cautious about another promise.
When certainty took shape in concrete form
The turning point did not come through data or presentation. It came through something the villagers could see.
Through PETRONAS’ Towards Uplifting Lives Programme (TULiP), in collaboration with UTP, Yayasan Hasanah and agricultural experts such as MARDI, the community received training in coffee processing, roasting and packaging.
But, for many villagers the real shift came when a production house was built in Long Sukang.
For the first time, there was visible proof that the vision was real.
Equipped with commercial coffee processing machinery supplied by PETRONAS, the facility gave farmers something they had never had before – a place to process their harvests close to home.
“The moment they saw it, everything changed,” Jenny recalled. “People finally believed because they could see it. They told me, ‘Neng! (little girl), what you said is true!’ From then on, their confidence just grew.”
Farmers who had once been hesitant began returning with coffee cherries. The long journey to Tenom, Sabah, for processing was no longer necessary.
“We used to have to send our beans all the way to Tenom,” said councillor and coffee farmer Philip Udan. “It took so much time because it was so far.”
Today, farmers from Long Sukang and nearby villages can process and sell their harvest locally, reducing both transportation costs and processing time.
From crops to a community brand
What began as an idea gradually grew into a structured community enterprise.
Between 2021 and 2026, cultivated agricultural land expanded from 32 to 71 hectares. Coffee farming grew to 66 farmers, while the number of Arabica coffee trees increased from about 700 to 7,230.
At the same time, 94 farmers continued cultivating 28.2 hectares of Adan rice fields, preserving a crop long tied to Lun Bawang heritage.
The breakthrough also gave rise to LINAWA.
In Lun Bawang, LINAWA means “the source”. For the community, it became more than a brand name.
“The name describes the origin of something. The product belongs to us,” said village chief and current cooperative president Sulaiman Palong. “When people talk about rice or coffee, we tell them, ‘We are LINAWA.’”
The cooperative now produces white, red and black Adan rice alongside medium-roast Arabica coffee sourced from Long Sukang, Long Luping and neighbouring villages. It also offers a signature Adan Arabica blend inspired by the traditional practice of roasting black rice as a coffee substitute.
“Back when coffee wasn’t available to us, we would roast black rice for our morning drink,” Sulaiman said. “It is something you truly cannot find anywhere else.”
For him, the secret lies in the highland soil.
“Even if you blindfold me, I will always be able to identify Adan rice,” he said with a smile.
A future rooted at the source
LINAWA has since gained recognition beyond the highlands, earning both an Outstanding Award and a Silver Award at the Malaysia Technology Expo’s sustainable innovation category. The brand is also Halal-certified, and its products are now available at PETRONAS Mesra stations in Kota Kinabalu and Petrosains in Kuala Lumpur.
For Jenny, however, the real achievement is not the awards or wider market reach.
It is continuity.
As LINAWA matured and the cooperative entered a new phase of growth, Jenny transitioned from cooperative president to production line supervisor, where she continues to oversee quality control, ensuring only the best coffee and rice carry the LINAWA name.
“I was determined to see this through,” she said. “Looking back, every difficulty was worth it.”
On quiet mornings, the mist still settles over the Lawas highlands as it always has. The land remains unchanged.
What has changed is the confidence of the people who work it.
For Jenny and the Lun Bawang community, LINAWA is no longer an idea that needs defending. It is part of daily life, a shared source of pride, opportunity and confidence in what their community can achieve together.
