Government partnership builds coffee facility for villages

ABOUT 3,200 plus people in Nawaeb, Morobe, will benefit from new coffee facilities built under the partnership of the Government and World Bank’s International Fund for Agriculture Development (WBIFA) through the Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (PPAP).
Managing director of lead partner agency Wia Trade Enterprise Ltd (WTEL) Dr Joel Waramboi said the partnership between PPAP through the World Bank and WTEL with the Coffee Industry Corporation and provincial agriculture department started in January 2017 and was completed in June this year.
“The coffee facilities include three new centralised mini wet-mills for coffee cherry processing which contains a generator, disc pulper, fermentation vats, a water reticulation system and dozens of coffee solar drier beds,” he said.
“Also eight solar–powered resources centres were built which will also be use to store dried coffee for markets.
“Local company Wia Trade Enterprises Ltd (WTEL) was the lead partner agency with PPAP to carry out the construction of the facilities in the Erap local level government (LLG) with its eight villages – Toroa, Gisi, Sabang, Kwaribo, Tifito, Bayang, Kawarang and Barawang.”
Waramboi said the coffee rehabilitation programme cost more that K2.6 million, with PPAP giving K1,855,629 and WTEL and partners contributing K795,268.
Nawaeb MP Kennedy Wenge gave K10,000 to meet the cost of coffee pulpers and tools.
The project will assist 813 coffee farmers and 4,000 others in the Erap LLG which has the Kasuka Cooperative Society made up of coffee growers from the eight villages.