Nestle scholar graduates

 By ZACHERY PER

THE student who was sponsored by the Nestle Coffee Roasters for a university degree graduated last Friday.

Rodney Warren, of Okapa, Eastern Highlands, earned a diploma in business education at the University of Goroka.

Apo, Angra and Kange (AAK) Cooperative Society coordinator Brian Kuglame said Warren was the first student to graduate through the Nestle Coffee Roasters, a global coffee company sourcing its coffee beans from Papua New Guinea.

He said the co-op had encouraged young students to go into coffee growing to earn a decent livelihood.

Through Warren, the cooperative would set up a project in Okapa to train the youth in coffee culture.

Warren will teach the subject to Okapa high school students alongside other agriculture-related courses.

Under the same sponsorship deal with Nestle, another student – Beda Kuglame – is taking up a degree course in business management at the University of PNG.

“We are investing in the education of children of our members,” Kuglame said.

“They will have to be productive and come back to help the small coffee growers in the village.”