Farmers get fermentary facilities

More than 2,000 rural cocoa farmers in the Lower Watut area, Morobe province, are now able to produce higher quality beans with the commissioning of five new fermentary facilities.
Farmers from Lower Watut, re­presentatives from Morobe Mining Joint Venture (MMJV) and Huon district government officials, celebrated this achievement early last month by opening the fifth fermentary at Mafanazo village, signalling the completion of the first lot of facilities.
Huon district MP Sasa Zibe, MMJV’s community and regional development manager Benjamin Kamaya, Wafi-Golpu community affairs manager Rolland Allbrook, and landowner’s representative Nawae Boga each encouraged the farmers to put goals and work together to develop quality cocoa and sustain themselves.
Kamaya and Allbrook said MMJV was committed to wor­king closely with the government and other development partners to bring back and promote agriculture as a sustainable resource for the province.
They thanked the other partners in the programme including the New Zealand Aid-funded Bris Kanda Organisation, Cocoa Coconut Institute and Bank South Pacific, who were helping in opening bank accounts for farmers.
The Hidden Valley Joint Venture (HVJV), the developer of the Hidden Valley mine and one of three joint ventures that make up MMJV, funded K45,000 for three fermentary installations and supplied a further K35,000 in logistics and materials for fermentation boxes and sheds for all five fermentaries.
Huon district provided K50,000 from its JDPBC for two fermentaries and a 30-horsepower motor engine for the farmers to transport their cocoa down river by dugout canoes.
The event saw the official launch of the Lower Watut Cocoa Far­mers Cooperative Society, a strategic step forward for farmers as they push to crack bigger markets.
Zibe gave two rice mills to the people.
The farmers span across 14 villages of Lower Watut and through these initiatives, they aim to yield improved cocoa varieties and extend their sales chain.