Morobe cocoa farmers prepare bigger export

 COCOA farmers in Morobe will soon contribute substantially to the economy through direct export of dry cocoa beans. 

Four months from now, the farmers in lower Watut, Huon district will ship the first batch of 60 tonnes (900 bags) to Kraft Foods in Singapore. 

The discussions, fact finding missions and meetings to bring the project to this stage took many months between Morobe Mining Joint Ventures (MMJV), Business for Millennium Development (B4MD), the people and Kraft Foods.

MMJV has been working closely with the people through its cocoa programme by funding the training, purchasing and distribution of tools, seedlings and nursery materials to help farmers produce better coffee beans.

Through this programme, MMJV linked up with B4MD and Kraft Foods, thus creating a strong partnership of a group of organisations that are keen to see the locals reap the rewards of their hard work.

According to MMJV, “producing quality dry beans to meet world market standards is vital, and to help the farmers meet that standard and that of Kraft for the sustainability of the project, Kraft through B4MD donated a set of instruments to assist meet this need”. 

The instruments included a moisture metre for getting readings of the moisture content in the wet beans; temperature metres for the dryer and fermentary for monitoring the temperature of the heat; a knife for cutting open and checking the colour of the beans to ensure they reach the right colour required; grinder for smell testing and a camera, wireless modem and solar panel for capturing the monitoring process.