Local farmers produce 85pc of PNG coffee

ABOUT 85 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s coffee is produced by small holder farmers, Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) chief executive officer Charles Dambui says.
Dambui told the national coffee symposium in Port Moresby yesterday that larger plantations contributed only 15 per cent, therefore developing a sustainable value chain was important.
He said coffee was a major cash crop that generated approximately K350 million in export revenue each year and provided income for more than 400,000 farmers.
PNG coffee is currently exported to over 34 countries, the biggest importer is the US, Germany, Australia, Belgium, Italy, French and Russia.
“It is imperative that the PNG coffee industry must and should develop its sustainable coffee value chain that reward the efforts of our value chain actors,” Dambui said.
“Most importantly, our hard working farmers, whether they are micro, small, medium or large.
“We must increase the participation of our small holders in our entire value chain and progressively upscale and to allow changes and be responsive to market signals.”
He said the average share of production from the small holder farmers from 2009 to 2017 is around 88 per cent.
“The medium to long term approach for coffee trade globally is very promising with a consumption growth increasing at four per cent,” he said.
“So the demand for PNG coffee is forecasted to grow in the longer term.
“The challenge for CIC and its stakeholders, is to ensure that we capitalise on those market trends and developments,”
“The export of certified coffees has been increased by an annual growth rate of 20 per cent in the last 12 years from 2007 to 2018 in PNG, and contributing around six per cent of the total annual exports.