Quiet revolution in Markham Valley

AGRICULTURE

Dr Joel Waramboi’s downstream processing vision

By MALUM NALU
 AT Nadzab in the vast and scenic Markham Valley of Morobe, past the brand new Nadzab Tomodachi International Airport, next to the now-sealed Highlands Highway, and against the magnificent Saruwaged Range, a quiet revolution is taking place.
It is here that Dr Joel Waramboi, a distinguished food scientist and entrepreneur, is spearheading a downstream processing revolution—very much in line with the Marape Government’s Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) IV 2023-2027 and the National Agriculture Sector Plan (NASP) 2024-2033, which will be launched by Prime Minister James Marape next Monday.
Marape said what Dr Waramboi is doing aligns with the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) IV 2023-2027 and the National Agriculture Sector Plan (2024-2033), which he will launch next week.
The Prime Minister also thanked Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd (CICL) and the World Bank-funded PNG Agriculture Commercialisation and Diversification Project (PACD) for their support towards Dr Waramboi’s company Wia Trade Enterprises Ltd (WTEL).
“I am happy to hear today of Wia Trade opening its new coffee factory and roastery at Nadzab, in the Markham Valley of Morobe, which will pave the way for Papua New Guinea’s first-ever instant coffee factory later this year,” Marape said.

“The irony of coffee in Papua New Guinea is that we produce the best coffee in the world, however, drink instant coffee imported from other countries at millions of kina. Wia Trade’s move is a step in the right direction and long overdue.
“I am also happy to hear of Wia Trade launching its flagship brand, Erap Coffee, sourced solely from the nearby Saruwaged Range of Morobe, and also the announcement that the company is venturing into bottled water production using local water.
“The irony of water in Papua New Guinea, like coffee, is that we have the best water in the world, however, drink water imported from other countries at millions of kina.
Prime Minister Marape said the NASP, which he will launch next week, has special emphasis on downstream processing and commercialisation as the initial priorities. Additionally, the second priority area is the development of commercial agriculture with 16 crops identified for large-scale farming.
“I have always maintained that the agriculture sector is a sleeping economic giant and can earn so much more if finished products – such as instant coffee which Wia Trade is doing – are produced more,” he said.
“Agriculture can then support the government budget and sustain the economy.”
Dr Waramboi, originally from Kubalia, East Sepik, now firmly established in Morobe, is one of Papua New Guinea’s most highly-qualified experts in food science, post-harvest technology, starch processing, and quality management of food and alternative food and cash crops. He also has extensive experience in agricultural production and farming systems.
On a beautiful morning on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at Dr. Waramboi’s base at WTEL, the company he started after leaving the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) a decade ago, he introduces me to his flagship product, Erap Coffee. Sourced directly from the lush foothills of the Saruwaged Range, Erap Coffee is now on supermarket shelves in Lae. The coffee was launched on this day, and the new roastery was opened by CICL CEO Charles Dambui.
CICL and the World Bank-funded PACD Project have been great supporters of WTEL. This state-of-the-art site is set to host Papua New Guinea’s first-ever instant coffee factory, marking a significant milestone in agricultural downstream processing in the country.
WTEL is also expanding beyond coffee, venturing into cocoa, coconut, spices, and other food crops, as well as bottled water production (which will be the subject of a separate story). The Saruwaged Range, home to some of the highest mountains and purest mountain streams in PNG, provides a pristine local water source for bottled water production. Expect to see WTEL’s bottled water on supermarket shelves soon, offering a taste of the pure mountain streams of Morobe.
“In 2014, I was a government employee, a senior scientist working with the National Agriculture Research Institute in Lae,” Dr Waramboi recounts.
“My wife and I started buying coffee as a side hustle. We used to buy parchment coffee from Erap, Watut, and Buang and sell it to mills in Lae like AgMark, Yha Hauka, and 12-Mile. That’s how we started in the coffee business in 2014-2015.
“In 2015, the CICL, through the Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (PPAP), the predecessor to PACD, put out an expression of interest for lead partners. We applied, and that’s how we got into the coffee business.
“On Oct 24, 2016, we held a groundbreaking ceremony here in Nadzab to signify the start of Wia Trade in coffee. Over the last eight years, we’ve done a lot of work with farmers, built a coffee mill, and a roastery in 2023.”
Dr. Waramboi proudly shows me a packet of Erap Coffee.
“This is the signature product of Wia Trade,” he says.
“This product came from almost a decade of hard work, starting in 2016 through the CICL-PPAP, working with the farmers in Erap. It is produced right here in the roastery and is already out on the market.
“We will tell the country that this is the product made through contributions from many people over the last eight years, including WTEL, the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), CICL, the Department of Agriculture, Morobe Provincial Government, and various stakeholders including local governments and farmers.
“The coffee is sourced from the foothills of the famous Saruwaged Range, with a very good and cool climate, and natural and pristine rain forests. It is grown by smallholder farmers whom we work with to grow the coffee, which we buy, roast, pack, and distribute. It is ‘single origin’ coffee, meaning we don’t mix it with coffee from other areas.”
Erap Coffee will lay the foundation for PNG’s first instant coffee factory.
Dr Waramboi was born on February 5, 1974, to illiterate and subsistence parents in Paparom village, Kubalia, East Sepik. He completed his primary education at Sassoya Primary School, high school at Brandi High School in East Sepik, and grades 11 and 12 at Aiyura National High School in Eastern Highlands. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Unitech from 1994-1997.
After graduation, he managed Andersons Foodland’s wholesale department before joining the first batch of NARI cadet scientists in February 2000, becoming a permanent staff member in late 2002. He completed his master’s degree in England from 2003-2004 and his PhD in Australia in 2012.
Dr Waramboi has vast experience in research and development projects, training and outreach activities with farmers and organisations around PNG. In 2005, he implemented a project funded by the Agriculture Innovations Grant Scheme (AIGS) of the Australian government, training national and provincial agriculture staff on proper vanilla curing and quality management in West Sepik, East Sepik, and Milne Bay provinces.
Notable contributions include the development and release of four improved rice varieties and processing and value-addition of PNG staple foods like kaukau and taro into products like flour, chips, crisps, and ice cream. He has also worked on product development for coconut and fruit jams, peanut butter, roasted peanuts, imitation milk, and starch extraction from cassava and sago.
His work has garnered significant funding from organisations like the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (Aciar) and the PNG Government’s Public Investment Programme (PIP). His profession has taken him abroad, and he has published papers both locally and internationally.

•  Malum Nalu works for the Office of the Prime Minister