Farmers missing out on best prices, says minister

Business

By PETER WARI
COFFEE farmers in Southern Highlands have missed out on getting the best possible price for their beans, Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon.
He said coffee buyers had underpaid farmers and increased their profit margins while making coffee farming less attractive for locals.
He said this on Thursday at Wasu village in the Nipa-Kutubu.
Simon, who was in the district for the launch of Poroma potato farming and Wasu cattle project, was surprised to hear from locals that they were paid K3 per kilogramme for coffee beans and that had discouraged them.
He said this was one of the main issues that was discouraging many farmers and he would talk with the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) to establish buying points in the rural areas.
“The price for green beans today stands between K11-K12 per kilogramme and buyers must help and encourage farmers by purchasing their dried beans for a fair price,” he said.
“It’s a shame for the buyers who tricking the farmers and making 100 per cent plus profit out of farmers hard work.”
Simon said the production of agricultural products in the country was not flourishing because farmers were not being paid a fair price.
He said production was dropping due to such dishonesty and greed.
Simon said he would ensure farmers around the country received a fair price for their produce as this was the only way to encourage participation and build the agriculture sector.
He said he had recently appealed to exporters of commodities not to cheat farmers when buying their produce but needed to buy according to current market prices.
Simon said, earlier this year, that Prime Minister James Marape had said the commodity price support programme would support the current coffee market price and added the programme would receive K200 million every year following the initial K50 million allocated last November.
“The Government is now giving priority to genuine farmers and will be establishing buying points to give hope to the farmers,” he said.
“Coffee buyers must be fair, it would be proper if they buy dried beans at K5-K6 per kilo.”