New association focuses on getting best price for coffee

COFFEE farmers in Jiwaka are looking forward to getting the best prices for their produce.
Mt Olga Coffee Development Association which was launched on Friday by Agriculture and Livestock secretary Daniel Kombuk at Ulka village at the border of Jiwaka and Western Highlands aimed to get the best price for their members.
Association chairman William Roimp told Kombuk, Coffee Industry Corporation representatives and provincial administration officers from Jiwaka and Western Highlands that their bottom line was to get the best possible prices for their farmers.
“The aim of the association is to control coffee quality, find good markets, and export green beans,” he said.
Roimp said previously middlemen had benefited more from the farmers’ labour and they wanted to change that.
Roimp, who owns a 112 hectare coffee plantation, said farmers had not seen the maximum benefits from their hard work.
“With the support from World Bank, International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the national government under the Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project carried out by Coffee Industry Corporation, we farmers’ want to become major players ourselves,” he said.
Roimp said the association had 1,102 members with over 1,000 hectares of coffee and they were ready to sell their green beans directly on the world market.
“We will not deal with middlemen who don’t have coffee gardens,” he said.
Meanwhile, Roimp commended government for prioritising the agriculture sector