A coffee cooperative success story

By AUGUSTINE DOMINIC of CIC

Coffee marketing in a group will generate high volume of coffee and raise more revenue for smallholder farmers.

Hence, the Coffee Industry Corporation, which is tasked to regulate and promote Papua New Guinea coffee, is encouraging and promoting group marketing through cooperative societies registered with the Department of Commerce and Industry or with the Investment Promotion Authority.

An example of a success story of a cooperative society is the Rikarika Co-operative Society from the Eastern Highlands province.

 Rikarika Cooperative Society members disembark from their vehicle to gather at the roadside for a meeting

The society is based in Habaru village along the Okapa road about 1,500 metres above sea level along the boarders of Okapa, Henganofi and Lufa districts, just beneath Mt Kuru.  

Politically, they are in the Henganofi district but with their geographical location, it’s confusing to government officers from the three districts to provide basic government services to them.

As expressed by the people, “government services from either one of the three districts does not reach us, maybe due to the confusion created by our central location that one think another district is serving us”.

Nevertheless, they are privileged to live along the recently-upgraded Okapa to Goroka road and have easy access to Goroka town and the services provided there.

One thing they profess about and continue to treasure is the unique coffee grown in their area, where the climate of the lower Lufa and Henganofi plains meets the high altitudes of Mt Kuru.

 Members of Rikarika Cooperative Society purchasing coffee parchment at their roadside base in Habaru village

The Rikarika Coffee Co-operative Society won the ‘Pride of PNG 2005 Coffee Cupping Competition’ organised in Goroka by the then Coffee Pacifica Inc,  which attracted participation from various international coffee cuppers including the Speciality Coffee Association of America.

The award was a big morale booster and the society continued struggling to uphold the quality values in processing coffee.

Its commitment payed off with another achievement when the CIC board approved its application and awarded it the permit to erect a dry coffee factory early this year.

This decision by the CIC board was a first of its kind for coffee cooperative societies in PNG.

CIC’s manager for industry regulation and compliance, Sam Menaga, said the society deserved the award as it was very active in strengthening itself for many years and had gained recognition in producing quality coffee.   

During a recent visit by CIC officers and Monpi Coffee Ltd to the area, society chairman James Iswalito and his deputy Simon Fikime, expressed great satisfaction in the society’s progress so far and vowed to continue to see tangible development brought in to their area through coffee.

“We have allocated land and money for erecting the dry coffee factory and hope to get it up soon,” Iswalito said.

He also declared his group’s intention to supply Monpi Coffee with quality coffee produced by his group.

The group initially started with 25 members in 2000 and has grown to over 100 registered members, mostly smallholder coffee growers owning coffee gardens ranging from one to five hectares and totalling about 160 hectares.