Coffee cherry theft on the rise in EHP

By JAMES KILA
COFFEE plantations and blocks in the Obura-Wonenara and Kainantu districts of Eastern Highlands have reportedly been experiencing a huge drop in production this flush season due to a surge in theft of cherry coffee from their fields.
Majority of the growers are therefore calling on the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) to put in place controls or come up with measures to totally ban the activity.
Owner of Korona plantation, one of the pioneer coffee estates in EHP, Megani Kahento, was very vocal on the issue during a meeting with officers from CIC last week.
Another block holder from Norikori shed tears openly when he told the meeting that he lost three-quarters of his coffee yield to thieves this season.
The CIC committee is currently gauging views and collecting information from stakeholders based on reports of the severity of cherry theft in coffee producing regions of the Highlands, especially Eastern and Western Highlands provinces.
The aim of the committee is to properly establish the extent and causes of the problem and pass on information to the CIC board for a policy decision.
These farmers and many from around Eastern Highlands have called on the CIC to impose a ban on coffee cherry trade.
Mr Kahento said they had been constantly struggling to keep thieves off their plantation.
According to a preliminary report from the CIC committee, more and more private buyers have joined the trade and were operating in villages, on road sides and at market depots, which constitute a “ready market” for coffee cherry.
This makes it easier for thieves to steal and sell their loot.
And the opportunity that this has created for people to obtain quick cash has encouraged more and more people to engage in this illegal activity.