‘Tree to Cup’ policy good for coffee industry

FIRSTLY, I would like to commend the Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock for issuing the directive to the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) to shift its focus towards a “Tree to Cup Policy” mandate in 2014.
I am excited about the commitment that the Gov-ernment and CIC is making because the tree represents the coffee growers in rural communi-ties of PNG while the cup represents the consumers in developed countries.
Hence, connecting the tree (growers) to the cup (consumers) provides a platform for local farmers to be exposed to the world market and in the long run will ensure increase in pro-duction of coffee nation-wide.
In other words, with such an innovative initiative, coffee farmers will be empowered to par-ticipate in the export end of the coffee business and be able to have the opportunity to become successful entrepreneurs.
Secondly, allow me to express my utmost appeal that agriculture needs to be appreciated and imple-mented by all stakeholders as the main agenda for development and prosperity of Papua New Guinea.
In other words, the gov-ernment’s resource frame-work must recognize agri-culture as the central agenda for PNG’s socio-economic development.
This is because if this agenda is effectively implemented, agriculture has definite potential to manage law and order, take care of health, help educate children, bring peace and harmony, manage and sus-tain environment and its integrity, promote foreign direct investment and part-nerships including overall prosperity to Papua NewGuineans in the informal sector.
On the contrary, PNG’s agriculture industry has indeed lagged behind the mining sector as well as the oil and gas sector for more years than one cares to remember. For instance, growing up from a coffee based village in the heart of Eastern Highlands, I have witnessed the point when coffee was one of the coun-try’s leading exports and I am still grateful for this amazing renewable resource as most of my school fees were paid from coffee proceeds.
But sadly, those times are memories as other con-cerns have taken away the drive that agriculture once had, specifically coffee.
However, despite this awkward situation, the CIC has developed a num-ber of strategies aimed at increasing production, improving coffee quality, conducting research and delivering extension pro-grams to ensure a sustain-able coffee industry for PNG.
For instance, the CIC is currently the custodian of the industry’s rehabilitation efforts carried out by Productive Partnerships in Agricultural Projects (PPAP), aimed at (PPAP),  at improving coffee produc-tion and quality, which is being financed through a government loan from the World Bank and Interna-tional Fund for Agricultural Development.
This initiative proves to be a light at the end of the tunnel for local coffee farmers as the lead partners will also facilitate farmer training, conduct farm book/record keeping, and carry out HIVAIDS and gender equality training with farmers and their families.

Samuel D Imara
Papua New Guinea