Last month I took my students down to the Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae as part of their Change Management Course to see the changes that has taken place in the cocoa Industry in PNG.
We have come a long way from growing cocoa beans to down stream processing of cocoa into finish goods. Here we had the opportunity to speak with various stake holders which support the industry and the very backbone of the industry the farmers themselves.
The Cocoa Industry has grown and Minister Maru who officiated at the ceremony said PNG wants to hit the production rate of 1B by 2022 from its current of 350 mio. Such an ambitious target for the country 65% increase. I had the opportunity to speak with alot of small holders who actually supply almost all the cocoa for export as cocoa plantations is minimal and all farmers are small holders. They still face a lot of challenges one of the main they highlighted is the route to market for the beans. They usually have to bring them in either by boat or car to the nearest township and then have to haul them to the buyer most the bulk of their earnings are eaten up by transportation cost alone. Not to mention the cocoa pod borer which is another obstacle as most farmers are reeling from the after effects of the disease with lower yields from the trees. Minister Maru said the government wants to take a 3 prong approach of production, processing and marketing although that needs to be further explained as to exactly how this process will be carried out and by whom. On top of that it was good to note the spread of cocoa growing up into the higlands of PNG there were farmers from Karamui and Jiwaka who were there to look for potential buyers of their products. One potential middle supplier which stood out during the show was Outspan a Bristish company who has been buying cocoa in PNG.Outstpan sells PNG cocoa to some of the most prominent Chocolate companies in the world one worth nothing is the LINDT chocolates. Outspan provides the LINDT and Springli farming program. I note that they promote sustainable farming encouraging good agricultural practices and sustainable cocoa farming. They encourage soil,water conservation and enviromental management. As much as we want to increase our yeilds we need to also be concious of the enviroment around us. As more cocoa's are being planted this gives way to more forest being cut to accomodate fo the tress. Unitech Agriculture Department was there to show case their solar drier. Niche market for high quality chocolate requires sun dried cocoa which gives off a higher flavour. There were also suppliers of cocoa bags and fertilizers, driers and other stakeholders who supported the industry. One thing is for sure if we are going to grow this industry and met the government's ambitous target then we will need to do it in the mot sustainable way. And farmers will need alot of training and asistance to provide better yields and higer grade cocoa beans. Inorder to be successful the farmers must be enriched and supported in everyway possible to keep on producing quality cocoa although am not as ambitous about the increase in monetary value I would like to see us increase in the quality of our systems and process which can yield better value cocoa. And I note sometimes in pursue of the monetary value we mass produce only to loose quality.
We have come a long way from growing cocoa beans to down stream processing of cocoa into finish goods. Here we had the opportunity to speak with various stake holders which support the industry and the very backbone of the industry the farmers themselves.
The Cocoa Industry has grown and Minister Maru who officiated at the ceremony said PNG wants to hit the production rate of 1B by 2022 from its current of 350 mio. Such an ambitious target for the country 65% increase. I had the opportunity to speak with alot of small holders who actually supply almost all the cocoa for export as cocoa plantations is minimal and all farmers are small holders. They still face a lot of challenges one of the main they highlighted is the route to market for the beans. They usually have to bring them in either by boat or car to the nearest township and then have to haul them to the buyer most the bulk of their earnings are eaten up by transportation cost alone. Not to mention the cocoa pod borer which is another obstacle as most farmers are reeling from the after effects of the disease with lower yields from the trees. Minister Maru said the government wants to take a 3 prong approach of production, processing and marketing although that needs to be further explained as to exactly how this process will be carried out and by whom. On top of that it was good to note the spread of cocoa growing up into the higlands of PNG there were farmers from Karamui and Jiwaka who were there to look for potential buyers of their products. One potential middle supplier which stood out during the show was Outspan a Bristish company who has been buying cocoa in PNG.Outstpan sells PNG cocoa to some of the most prominent Chocolate companies in the world one worth nothing is the LINDT chocolates. Outspan provides the LINDT and Springli farming program. I note that they promote sustainable farming encouraging good agricultural practices and sustainable cocoa farming. They encourage soil,water conservation and enviromental management. As much as we want to increase our yeilds we need to also be concious of the enviroment around us. As more cocoa's are being planted this gives way to more forest being cut to accomodate fo the tress. Unitech Agriculture Department was there to show case their solar drier. Niche market for high quality chocolate requires sun dried cocoa which gives off a higher flavour. There were also suppliers of cocoa bags and fertilizers, driers and other stakeholders who supported the industry. One thing is for sure if we are going to grow this industry and met the government's ambitous target then we will need to do it in the mot sustainable way. And farmers will need alot of training and asistance to provide better yields and higer grade cocoa beans. Inorder to be successful the farmers must be enriched and supported in everyway possible to keep on producing quality cocoa although am not as ambitous about the increase in monetary value I would like to see us increase in the quality of our systems and process which can yield better value cocoa. And I note sometimes in pursue of the monetary value we mass produce only to loose quality.
These are women farmers from the Yalu Woman Farmers Cooperative Society who hae been growing cocoa and selling it to sustain their daily needs
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