Farmers to benefit from deal

 By ZACHERY PER 
SOLAR energy will be used to power coffee pulpers and light up homes of smallholder farmers throughout the country.
This was made possible under a partnership between the Coffee Industry Corporation and MG Cooperation of Japan.
Coffee industry Corporation Research and Growers Services division general manager Dr Mark Kenny said this breakthrough would further strengthen a memorandum of agreement between the two parties.
“Smallholder farmers were the mainstay of the coffee industry and what CIC intends to do is to lead growers under the Government’s Tree to Cup policy,” Kenny said.
“We have been looking for ways to make that become a reality and this partnership provides a link between the growers and the market as well as sourcing alternate technologies to improve the way farmers process their coffee.”  MG chief executive officer Kamal Goundar said he has been working with partners in PNG for over seven years.
He said one of the objectives of MG was to promote PNG coffee to the Japanese market.
“Japan has a huge coffee demand and therefore I can promise you that if you can meet the expected quality and delivery requirements, price should not be a problem,” he said.
He told Gelehi villagers in the Ungga-Bena district of Eastern Highlands where trials were done that solar energy would be used to pulp coffee and to light up homes.
The new technology will run on an automotive system generated by solar energy to help farmers pulp coffee instead of manual hand pumps.
Pastor Albert Ukaiya of New Life Mision in Gilehe told officials that his community was grateful to be the first to have this solar system piloted in their village.