The government of the Papua New Guinea has launched a policy on coffee. The country’s Prime Minister James Marape made the launch and said the move aims to return interest to Papua New Guinea’s hallmark commodity that once was the highest agriculture revenue earner in the country.
PM Marape explained part of the new policy to elevate coffee quality and individual family interest in the cash crop was to encourage as many families as possible within the 17 coffee-producing provinces grow 2,500 trees. The logic is that if families can get into smaller, more manageable coffee orchards as SMEs, they can concentrate on giving the trees and their beans the best care to ensure quality at the market.
“If one family can grow 2,500 trees, it can make between K21,000 and K25,000 per year to sustain itself,” said PM Marape.
Constant coffee price
He further said the Marape-Rosso Government would make sure that the price of coffee remains constant between K7 and K13 per kilogram for growers throughout the year beginning next year 2023.
“Beginning next year onwards, the price of coffee would not be allowed to drop below K7 as the Government has a number of agriculture support programs such as Price Support and Freight Subsidy to buffer against price drop. For price, A-Grade Coffee will make you between K9 and K13; B-Grade Coffee K8 and K12; and C-Grade Coffee K7 and K11. I assure you all, we will not go below K7,” he said.
A sum of K5 million was committed to provincial governments of Jiwaka, and WHP and K2 million to each of the coffee-producing districts of Jiwaka (North Waghi, South Waghi, Kerowagi, Dei, Mul Bayer, and Jimi) to begin exploratory and preparatory work to coordinate and link all coffee growers in the province and to begin implementing the 2,500 coffee trees per family policy beginning in 2023 where this sector is supported in the budget.
