“In just one month, my coffee farm has been raided six times,” said Mr. Ngô Nhiên from Jốc hamlet, Ea H’Đing commune, Cư M’gar district, Đắk Lắk—one of hundreds of thousands of farmers across the Central Highlands’ 400,000 hectares of coffee who are losing sleep over thieves.
A Worry That Returns Every Harvest
With 2,135 ha of coffee in full production, Ea H’Đing is a “promised land” for coffee thieves each harvest. Around this time last year, district police arrested four people for “helping themselves” to 720 kg of beans, but the annual wave of theft shows no sign of cooling.
Farmer Trần Đình Long owns just 1 ha, split between Drang and Jốc hamlets. To guard both plots—three kilometers apart—he and his wife take turns by day, while he patrols alone at night: early evening, midnight, and again before dawn. Yet his wife, Ms. Phan Thị Thủy, has just reported that 26 trees in Jốc were stripped bare, even branches broken. “At 4 a.m. everything looked fine,” Long said. “By morning, part of the field was wrecked. This year they not only stole six quintals of ripe cherries but also snapped branches—hurting yields for two or three more years.”
Nearby, Mr. Ngô Nhiên has filed a similar complaint. “In the past month alone my farm’s been hit six times—first on October 14, the latest on November 16. They used to just strip fruit; now they break branches so some trees have none left. That’s not petty theft—that’s economic sabotage.”
Others share the same fate. Mr. Đàm Văn Nhập from Quảng Phú town thought his still-green cherries would be spared—until one morning he found 100 trees cleaned out, losing about half a ton. Mr. Trần Văn Phước from Buôn Ma Thuột lost several sacks stored in a field shed and now plans to sell his farm: “I’m exhausted. If I can just recover my investment, I’ll quit,” he said. Commune police confirm more than 20 theft or vandalism cases since harvest began barely a month ago.
Tough to Protect Even “at Home”
Local loudspeakers now broadcast provincial orders to tighten coffee security and ban picking or trading unripe beans. Nighttime transport or trade of coffee—from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.—is deemed illegal unless proof of origin is shown. “If buyers or sellers can’t prove the source, we act according to the law,” explained Deputy Police Chief Y Xơrớp Mlô.
Despite these measures, theft continues and grows more sophisticated. Ea H’Đing’s 2,000 ha of scattered coffee is hard to patrol with the commune’s small police force, which must also maintain general public order.
Some districts have tried cooperative security models. In Hòa Thắng hamlet (Krông Păk district), a volunteer guard group protects 50 ha of coffee, charging 350,000 VND per sào (1,000 m²) and guaranteeing compensation for losses. But such schemes are hard to replicate where coffee farms are small and scattered.
“Even our part-time officers earn only about 400,000 VND per month,” said Y Xơrớp Mlô. “We can’t push them beyond their limits.” Of more than 20 recorded thefts this season, only one has been formally handled.
With remote plots and thieves on the prowl, many farmers follow the saying “better pick green at home than ripe in the field.” They know harvesting early cuts yield by roughly 25 % and lowers bean quality, but securing their crop seems worth the loss.
Yet even early picking is difficult. “I should have finished harvesting a month ago,” sighed Trần Đình Long, “but there’s no labor.” Across the Central Highlands, farmers wait anxiously for seasonal workers from the central coast. “We’re willing to pay 150,000–500,000 VND per picker,” he said, “but this year they simply aren’t coming. We know the longer the night, the more the dreams—but honestly, we don’t know what else to do.”