Farmers to produce, process quality coffee

MORE than 1000 coffee farmers in Morobe are mobilising to produce and process quality coffee for a fair price under group marketing, according to the Coffee Industry Corporation Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project.
Farmer Pauline Lakis said when they worked as individuals, they received less from their harvest.
She blamed the middlemen of benefitting the most from the hard work of farmers. Lakis, 35, is from Pelato in Buang district.
She had been buying parchment coffee for eight years at K3.50 per kilogramme.
It takes her almost four hours to travel to Lae to sell the produce to a Chinese man at K4 per kilogramme.
The difference is only 50t which is not enough to cover even the transport cost.
She is one of the 95 growers in the area who have realised the disadvantage of working as individuals and formed the Pelato Kofi Group last year.
The farmers are organising themselves for coffee rehabilitation funding from the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development and PNG Government through Niugini Coffee, Tea and Spices Ltd.
The project will train farmers on farming and coffee processing practices to improve their yield and the coffee quality for a premium price under group marketing.
The Pelato Kofi Grup is one of the six farmer groups who will take part in the coffee development work following the signing of an agreement between the Coffee Industry Corporation-Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project and Niugini Coffee, Tea and Spices Ltd in Lae.