Farmers in Markham to grow and sell cassava to SP Brewery

MORE than 400 smallholder farmers from Markham, Morobe, will be engaged to grow and sell cassava products to South Pacific Brewery.
They will be assisted by International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to commercialise the starch crop.
This was formally agreed in a deal signed between SP Brewery and IFC on Monday in Port Moresby.
The arrangement will see the cassava starch as a partial import replacement for malt barley.
It marks a milestone for a project that first begun in 2014 by SP Brewery.
SP Brewery managing director Stan Joyce had bought a processing plant that is currently being built in Erap where they also have a nursery.
“We look forward to cassava flour production in the last quarter of this year,” he said.
Joyce said cassava starch should be able to be used in beers by then as well.
He said SP Brewery had invested about K6 million to date on the developing cassava starch.
“We have been exploring how to incorporate locally produced starch in our brewing process,” Joyce said.
“Although SP Brewery initially funded this project and will continue to do so to ensure it is sustainable we now need more support to commercialise this as a business,
“It has been a challenging four years but we are excited about this project.
“We see a real opportunity to strengthen the agriculture sector and look forward to working
with IFC to ensure Papua New Guinea benefits from this cassava project.”
IFC vice-president for Asia and Pacific Nena Stoiljkovic said this was about creating a new industry in PNG which in turn will create jobs and opportunities for people in rural areas.
“The aim is to develop a competitive starch industry attracting local and international buyers amid growing overseas demand for starch products,” he said.