Programme teaches local growers about sustainability

By JIMMY KALEBE
COCOA growers in the Markham Valley of Morobe are undergoing a sustainability programme to help them in their livelihoods, environment and cocoa production.
The programme was initiated by cocoa exporter Outspan PNG Ltd and involves cocoa-farming villages in the valley.
Outspan country manager Basayaraj Mashetty said the programme was aimed at increasing farmers’ sustainability and to give something meaningful to communities.
He said this was why the company brought in representatives of overseas companies to come and assist local farmers.
Mashetty said it was through such collaboration among international partners, exporters and farmers that the industry would grow.
He told farmers at Mangiang village in Umi-Atzera local level government that training of farmers was vital in the cocoa industry and Outspan was committed to that.
Mashetty said 2018 was the first year of the sustainability programme in Markham, which would go on for the next five year and cover the whole valley.
Head of sustainability with Lindt and Springuli Switzerland, Leonie Bruhlmann, said her visit was to get to know and see the faces behind their raw material.
“This is so that whenever the cocoa beans arrive in our factories, we know exactly which farmers produced those beans,” she said.
Bruhlmann said since the programme started last October, they were very happy to learn that 1000-plus farmers had gone through it.
“The focus of the programme at the moment is the training,” she said.
“We hope that this will help you, the farmers, in productivity and improve the quality of cocoa you produce.”
Bruhlmann said the environment was another important aspect that Lindt and Springuli was committed to.