Bank opens outlet to serve coffee growers

THE people of Tafeto in the Asaro Valley of Eastern Highlands will no longer travel into Goroka to do their banking.
A Bank South Pacific outlet opened at Wantrifu village on Wednesday to serve more than 10,000 coffee growers in the area.
The BSP outlet is connected to a coffee storage building with an office space upstairs.
It is an initiative of community leader Philip Timbe, of Hatavile Coffee Ltd, a lead partner of Coffee Industry Corporation’s Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (CIC-PPAP).
The chairman of CIC-PPAP, Ian Mopafi, urged the youths to look after the coffee storage house, banking services and take part in coffee development work in the area.
Mopafi also explained the CIC-PPAP initiative and its purpose to serve the real needs of rural people.
“Some years back, millions of kina was parked with NBD (National Development Bank) to help little people in the villages,” he said.
“These monies were used by paper farmers in Port Moresby city.
“This is why the PPAP modality came about to help growers with services like this.”
Hatavile Coffee is implementing coffee rehabilitation activities with 400 growers with K1 million funding on tranche basis.
The project is reaching out to growers outside the project.
Timbe said coffee activities like pruning started late in February last year.
He said the incursion of coffee berry borer (CBB) pest was a blessing in disguise to speed up coffee rehabilitation with the help of CIC officers.
“This coffee work has impacted close to 10,000 people in the area,” Timbe said.
“They have received their tools and materials financed by the project to work in their coffee gardens.
“Next week they will get their coffee seedlings.”