Communities receive coffee production facilities

THREE communities in Gumine, Chimbu, have received nearly K2 million worth of coffee production facilities.
The facilities were delivered under a partnership between the Community Development Agency (CDA)-Gumine and Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC)’s productive partnership in agriculture project (PPAP).
The partnership delivered wet-coffee processing mills to three villages: one each in Mul and Dirima villages in Gumine local level government (LLG) and Moromaule in Kumai-Bomai LLG.
PPAP manager Potaisa Hombunaka said the achievement had put to rest a conventional practice of shouldering bags of coffee parchment up and down Gumine’s rugged mountain terrain.
“The new initiative effectively ends the conventional transportation of white coffee bags by foot to the nearest road side buyer or nearest town,” Hombunaka said.
He said the arrangement removed the middleman as coffee cherries were now coming directly into the wet-mill factories, pulped, fermented and dried on the solar drier and ready for processing into exportable green beans.
CDA-Gumine executive director Yani Smith said organic coffee growers in the higher altitude areas were fortunate to receive modern coffee wet-mill factory, solar driers, storage, conference and office facilities, generator set, water supply and training.
Smith said CDA-Gumine aimed to improve the quality of life with coffee being the only major source of income for families.
He said their focus was to improve milling and other facilities for local growers.
Smith said the project covered Gumine district, Kerowagi’s Neragaima and Salt in the Karamui-Nomane district.
He said the K1.8 million worth project is for three years.
Smith said one mill was about K90,000 including water supply, electricity (generator set), drying and storage sheds, community project office and training.