Saonu investing in farmers for financial independence

MOROBE Governor Ginson Saonu last week announced a number of incentives for next year 2020 to provide a pathway for farmers attaining financial independence.
In his speech addressing cocoa farmers during the 2019 Kumul Bilong Morobe Cocoa of Excellence Show at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium last Friday, Saonu said the Government’s ambition to see PNG becoming more prosperous was a catalyst for real change.
“Provinces need to remove the sickness called ‘dependency syndrome’ and create pathways for people to aspire to be financially independent,” he said.
“With that, the Morobe Government will allocate K500,000 in 2020 to establish a provincial nursery in the Markham valley to benefit all cocoa farmers in this province.
“We will also allocate K800,000 to establish eight coffee nurseries in each of the districts for our coffee industry. We will revive all rundown or closed coffee mills and build mini coffee mills in each district to support that.”
Saonu said the Morobe government would also provide K2 million under a credit scheme for farmers and cooperative societies to obtain loans to finance their ventures.
“We will provide free services to farmers and cooperative societies and help them compile their business plans and cash flows to meet bank requirements in order to obtain the loan from the bank.”
Saonu said the provincial executive council had approved the building of an instant coffee factory in partnership with investors in Lae.
He appealed to the PNG Cocoa Board, Coffee Industry Cooperation, National Planning, Agriculture and Livestock and Commerce and Industry departments, Business houses in Lae and other development partners to participate in the major economic drive in the agriculture sector.