Farmer receives cocoa dealer certificate

THE Cocoa Board of Papua New Guinea under the Cocoa Act of 1981 has for the first time awarded a three-month dry cocoa bean dealer certificate to a farmer from the Highlands region.
Norman Mondo, of Karimui Cocoa Dealers Limited in Karimui, Chimbu was presented with the certificate by PNG Cocoa Board chief executive officer Boto Gaupu on Friday during the 2019 PNG Kumul Bilong Morobe Cocoa of Excellence show in Lae.
Mondo told The National one of the biggest problems with growing cocoa in Karimui was road access, forcing farmers to transport cocoa by air only.
“Cocoa farmers in Karimui also do not have the proper facilities to dry harvested cocoa beans. It is an issue that has affected a lot of small farmers” Mondo said.
“To help those farmers achieve quality dry beans, I opted to apply to become a dry cocoa bean dealer myself, so I can buy wet beans from those farmers, dry the cocoa beans at my facility and supply to exporters.
“The Highlands region is taking part in growing cocoa now so we need this kind of support. This certificate will greatly support a lot of small cocoa farmers in Karimui, and to keep their interest in cocoa farming,” he said.
Mondo, who also has a wet cocoa bean certificate and fermentry licence, said the dry cocoa bean dealer certificate would support cocoa farmers in the area.
He said the Gumine to Karimui road needed to be built so that small farmers could have access to markets.
“Production is there, we can produce a lot of cocoa beans, but we need the road to reach the markets cheaply and easily,” he said.