Partnership relieves coffee growers

AGRICULTURE

By ZACHERY PER
THE practice of shouldering bags of coffee parchment up and down the mountains in Gumine district, Chimbu like ‘white horses’ is now a thing of the past.
Much appreciation and accolades go to Coffee Industry Corporation’s Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (CIC PPAP) and Community Development Agency (CDA)-Gumine for establishing coffee quality standardising facilities for organic coffee growers in and around Mul, Dirima in Gumine LLG and Moromaule of Kumai Bomai LLG in Gumine district.
Leading in the frontline were PPAP Project Manager Poitasa Hombunaka and Director CDA Yanny Guman who ensured money secured for Mul, Dirima and Moromaule communities translated into tangible outcomes that can impact the lives of hardworking coffee growers.
Guman said the aim of CDA-Gumine was to improve quality of life. As it is the only major source of income for families, the focus is placed on coffee to achieve sustainable incomes for households. He said the project stretched throughout the entire Gumine district as well as parts of Kerowagi district’s Neragaima area and Sua area of Salt-Nomane Karamui district.
He said it was a three-year project at the cost of K1.8 million. Out of that K270, 000 was spent for three wet-mill coffee factories at about K90,000 each.
CDA-Gumine further briefed out the respective projects to community-based organisations at the three locations to implement under CDA’s supervision.
“Actually the value of each project site is over K90,000 inclusive of water supply, electricity (generator sets), drying shed, coffee storage and community project office,” Guman said.
Sustainable Life Strivers (SLS) were engaged for the Mul project while Aspirations for Dirima Community Development (ADCD) was engaged for the Dirima project and Wikauma Green Fingers Association (GFA) for the Moromaule project.
According to Hombunaka organic coffee growers in these higher altitudes areas of Mul and Dirima in Gumine LLG and Moromaule in Kumai-Bomai LLG are very fortunate to receive modern coffee wet-mill factories, solar driers, storage facilities, conference and office facilities, generator sets (electricity), water supply and trained manpower.
“The new initiative effectively cuts off the conventional transportation of white coffee bags on human shoulders to the nearest road side buyers or coffee buying spots in towns. That is now a thing of the past for the people of Gumine district,” Hombunaka told coffee growers from these three areas.
“It cuts the middle men off completely as coffee cherries are now coming directly into the wet-mill factories, pulped, fermented and dried on the solar drier and made ready for processing into exportable green beans of highest quality.”
Hombunaka said PPAP’s initial concept was to only rehabilitate coffee gardens like what CIC had done in the past. Farmers were only encouraged to rehabilitate coffee trees then.
“I realised that just rehabilitating coffee trees would have no sustainable impact in the lives of the organic coffee farmers.”
Hombunaka said in a meeting with the PPAP’s funding agencies, the World Bank (WB), International Food and Agriculture Agency (IFAD) and the Government of PNG (GoPNG) that rehabilitating coffee gardens would not be sustainable because after the programme how would they know or measure the farmer’s ability to continue the rehabilitation.
“I told IFAD, WB and GoPNG that I did not see any sustainability of coffee rehabilitation project. What would sustain the hardworking coffee growers after the rehabilitation project? There is nothing new in there.”
He said the funding was sourced from a GoPNG loan from WB and IFAD.The Department of Agriculture and Livestock is in-charge of the project and CIC was the implementing agency through its project unit commonly known as CIC-PPAP.
Hombunaka said the project was aimed at making coffee a bridge linking PPAP to change the livelihood of people through quality coffee for farmers to get good price sand change their standard of living, like changing from living under kunai grass thatched houses to semi-permanent or permanent houses.
“We do not want you to continue living in kunai houses that deteriorate after five years and you go into the bush for new materials to build again. The aim of this project is to help you stop this practice and build permanent houses that sustain your livelihood,” Hombunaka said.
Those leading the project would like to see families living in permanent houses and children doing school homework under electric lights.
“CDA-Gumine conducted intensive trainings during the three-year period to change the people’s mindset; they are now ready to accept changes. They returned to their coffee gardens are are now able to produce quality coffee, earning a steady income that enables them to improve their standard of living, which is a milestone achievement.” Hombunaka said.
Families involved in the coffee project have changed their lives as they learnt many new things, identifying what is not right and what is right. Prior to the project, youths especially had been left disengaged and involved in marijuana but have now changed and are becoming important assets in communities.
Hombunaka said money and resources earmarked for the people from the Government have never reached them because responsible authorities failed to deliver for reasons known only to them.
“Service providers including the Government should change the mode of delivering services and use effective agencies like CDA to channel service flow. Through a very effective partnership with CDA-Gumine PPAP has successfully achieved its aim and is very happy,” he said.
Hombunaka invited the Mul, Dirima and Moromaule coffee producers to Goroka to use a newly established coffee quality testing machine set up by PPAP. “I invite you to bring your coffee samples to Goroka to test for quality. If it is not good you can be trained again or if it is good and there is no question and doubt over quality, you are ready to proceed as you have already achieved the required quality,” Hombunaka said.
Guman reiterated the importance of sharing responsibilities with clan-based groups to get jobs done.
“CDA is lead partner working with co-partners (CBOs) to get these facilities to standardise coffee, the three groups that got the facilities should consider themselves very fortunate,” he said.
“We are not following blood relatives, friends or mates; CDA works in collaboration with groups to pursue self-reliance; if you do not work hard we will know that you lied to us.”
Guman said for 10 years, CDA has been training and fixing mindsets of people already in preparation to have new coffee wet mills and standardising coffee quality facilities.
“If you are not serious, you will not find what you want to get.
“This is only a start of a new beginning, it will lead you to go and get more good things. It comes through sheer hard work, sweat, blood and tears.
“You must be happy. Not one of us is to get the glory for this; it is only God who will get the glory for he gives us knowledge and everything. We must always work together to achieve self-reliance and sustainable living,” he said.
Guman added that if they had been getting one kina for a kilogram of their produce, they would get K3 for the same amount from the opening day onwards as their efforts would added quality to their end product.
“Partnership is a needed to strengthen, someone else’s strength is another’s weakness so we need to cooperate and work to achieve common aims.
“CDA encourages community work and cooperation, today we see that you are able to survive on your own so we will now cut you off from our support and leave you to do your job.
“Do not come to us for minor issues. As we open the facilities the onus is now on you to take ownership and reap maximum benefits,” Guman said.
“We value the partnerships we had with PPAP over the last six years that can extend for a longer period of time because impactscan only come about through longer term partnerships.
“We also acknowledge Bread for the World of Germany who has supported CDA for many years; without their undivided funding support over the years we cannot be able to work with people as we can only go to a a certain extent.
“We encourage similar partnerships to happen between NGOs and government so that we can collectively achieve sustainable development outcomes.
“Even NGOs can report to government systems what they have done with people using donor funds.”
“Currently we have no system of reporting to the provincial government. We require support from government as we are complementing what government is doing,” Guman concluded.