Coffee project planned for Hela

THE Innovative Agro Industry Ltd (IAI) and several partners will be involved in a multi-million kina coffee project in Hela soon.
A team from IAI was in Goroka on Tuesday to meet officials from the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) to discuss the project.
The company, backed by Israel’s LR Group, was led by chief executive Lior Crystal and a team of scientists, extensionists, agronomists and an economist.
They were welcomed by CIC chief executive Charles Dambui and his senior management team.
The group visited a CIC Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (CIC-PPAP) project in Asaro Valley, Hataville Coffee Ltd, which is implementing coffee rehabilitation work.
They also went to Ipagu Plantation to see a wet-and-dry coffee processing factory.
Crystal said the company had already signed a memorandum of understanding with ExxonMobil, Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) and the district and provincial governments of Hela to formalise plans for this massive coffee development project.
He said it would be a large-scale project looking at planting 15 million coffee trees.
Crystal said it was a timely visit to Goroka to meet with CIC management to exchange and share ideas on the current status of the industry and how the project aimed to address some of the issues.
This project is expected to create employment for 5000 people in Hela.
It anticipates addressing coffee development and marketing issues starting in Hela and then moving on to other coffee-growing provinces.
The IAI is an affiliate of the Israeli based LR-group that has been implementing projects worldwide for 35 years.
“We came into PNG in late 2011, realising mainly the potential in agriculture,” Crystal said.
“We have started projects in Port Moresby (9-Mile farm), poultry and vegetable projects in Hela and another vegetable project in Sirunki, Enga.”
He said to date IAI had invested close to K80 million in PNG, focusing on agricultural projects addressing logistical issues, which was one of the main constraints faced by farmers in rural PNG.
Dambui said CIC would contribute technical advice primarily on market accessibility, which was very important in this investment.