Purosa villager Daniel uses degree to help coffee farmers

By ZACHERY PER
WHEN he graduated with a Bachelor in Forestry Science degree at the University of Technology in Lae in March 1999, Daniel Kinne was hoping to secure a job.
The job market in the forestry sector was too small. Qualified people such as him had to make calls and knock on doors too.
In 2001, Daniel decided to return to his remote Purosa village in South Fore, Okapa district, Eastern Highlands, to put to use what he had studied to rehabilitate aging coffee trees.

He assisted his dad Kinne James in developing the Purosa coffee plantation abandoned by Angco Coffee. His dad was one of the five local directors of the plantation and acquired it when Angco Coffee was liquidated.
“I continued working on coffee in Okapa also doing logistics for local coffee exporting company Coffee Connections Limited until 2003. I became the Executive Officer to former Governor Malcom Smith Kela.”
Daniel is married with two children – son Kugume Kinne in in Grade Three at Goroka Gramma School and daughter Bite Wani Kinne doing Grade Seven at North Goroka Primary School. They live in Goroka.
In 2011 Daniel returned to the Purosa Coffee Plantation and revived the coffee processing factory left idle for 10 years. After getting it functional, he got a processing licence from the Coffee Industry Corporation. The processing facility is still processing green beans today.
Daniel got the farmers together and formed the Highlands Organic Agriculture Cooperative. He is currently the chairman of its executive management board.
“Over the last 15 years, we have been exporting quality coffee to specialty organic fair trade markets overseas in Australia, New Zealand, United States and Germany through Coffee Connections which is in our market supply chain.”
Generous buyers in the organic fair trade market pay a little extra money to help disadvantaged coffee farmers in PNG.
The fair trade premium money is used to improve farmers’ lives while the principal is retained by the exporter to be remitted to the cooperative.
The cooperative invested K1.4 million earned from the fair trade premium in improving the lives of its 2,600 registered coffee farmers in Okapa.
In 2018, the cooperative started a housing scheme for the farmers. Each farmer had to pay K50 in sweat equity for roofing iron and K30 for pulpers.
“This is to make them feel that they bought and own them.”
The cooperative under Daniel’s leadership also built a classroom at Ke’efu Primary School, a three-bed room teachers quarters at Purosa primary and elementary schools, and provided a classroom each at Emasa, Yagusa, Tamox, Ivingoi and Waisa.
It provided water supply to families at Irafo, Yagusa, Yasubi, Purosa and Ivingoi and the Ivingoi Secondary School.
Daniel has been attending meetings overseas in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore, Bangkok and Fiji.
“In one of the meetings in Fiji in 2015, I was elected deputy vice-president of the Pacific sub-group of the Network of Asia Pacific Producers which included the Middle East, India and South East Asia producers.”

“ Coffee trees are a cousin to others trees. So I use my skills and knowledge to develop coffee trees.”

The money they put aside helps them cushion the impact of world price collapses.
“We survive and continue getting the high price as we are in the safety net, while those trading in the conventional market are affected.”
He feels comfortable and satisfied living and working at his Purosa village.

“Coffee trees are a cousin to others trees. So I have used my skills and knowledge to develop coffee trees.”
He believes his degree has come in useful after all.
“If you cannot be successful in one approach, try another approach.”