Training helps cocoa growers boost skills

Business

FORTY growers in Morobe now have a better understanding of how to look after their cocoa farms and manage their income after attending a training workshop.
Agbook Agribusiness Training and Advisory Ltd ran the one-day workshop sponsored by the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture at the National Agricultural Research Institute (Nari) outside Lae on Wednesday.
Agbook managing director Nicole Isifu said the aim was to make farmers “business-minded”.
“We trained the growers on how to run their farms as a business and on how to manage their income,” she said.
“We want to help them shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming, because today, everything operates with technology.”
Isifu said cocoa generated income for farmers to meet school fees and other family expenses.
“Technology is a challenge for small-scale farmers,” she said.
“It’s a hindrance for farmers.
“Young people see agricultural activities as for old ones only.
“(They are) more advanced in technology.
“So merging that with the older people’s skills in agriculture and farming, maybe we will see changes in the sector.”