Coffee officers complete training

Eleven technical coffee officers recently completed week-long induction training on how to serve members of the Apo, Kange and Angra (AAK) Coffee Cooperatives based in the highlands provinces.

The 11 technical coffee officers and executives of AAK Cooperatives after completing their induction programme in Goroka recently.-Picture courtesy of CIC

The AAK is a major coffee farmer cooperative group deriving its coffee farmer membership from Chimbu, Jiwaka, Western and Eastern Highlands provinces.

The cooperatives engaged the officers to implement a K500, 000 coffee project successfully sourced from the World Bank-funded coffee component of the Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (PPAP) late last year. 

Cooperatives coordinator, Brian Kuglame, said the officers were selected from the respective cluster groups of each cooperative from the provinces and were trained to promote coffee quality and sustainable production and marketing.

“Today, the cargo cult perception is growing very big in many communities and these local officers will be there to fight these perceptions and urge the people to work the land to survive,” Kuglame said.

He said one officer would cover more than two districts in each province, including Jiwaka.