Cooperative plans awareness against illegal coffee trade

 A COFFEE cooperative group is planning an awareness on the Highlands Highway to prevent the illegal trading of cherries.

It said it was affecting the quality and price of the crop grown by smallholder farmers.

Potaisa Hombunaka, the project manager of the Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project which comes under Coffee Industry Corporation, said the AAK Cooperative which has 1800 members was taking the initiative to enforce the cherry trade policy which had been gazetted and announced by the coffee industries corporation (CIC).

The policy prohibits the buying, selling and exporting of cherry coffee in all five highlands provinces.

Hombunaka said the AAK cooperative group was a co-partner of the PNG Coffee Export Ltd.

Yesterday, the group’s eight directors from Eastern Highlands, Simbu, Jiwaka and Western Highlands met in Goroka.

“The cherries are now turning yellow. They will be ready for harvest in a few months’ time and cherry theft is a serious problem in the highlands which is making genuine farmers losing interest in working in their gardens,” a joint statement said.

 “We want to (with CIC) enforce this policy. We want to reinforce this message to all those middle people without licence stealing cherries from hard working growers and selling to buyers and exporters.

“Coffee cherry theft is a serious threat to the industry which is affecting quality and production and our efforts.

“This is why we want to take the initiative to support CIC to warn these thieves and illegal traders.”