Organic and Shade planting-- the ambition of small Coffee Farmers' Cooperative in Papua New Guinea

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Independent State of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, and coffee is the only cash crop in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. More than 2 million small farmers in Pakistan and their families rely on coffee as an important source of livelihood. The coffee here is grown in the highlands above 1300 meters and is cultivated organically and shady, giving this coffee a mellow taste with nutty and fruity flavors.

Coffee is almost their only source of income in Papua New Guinea in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Photo: Google Map

The HOAC Cooperative (The Highland Organic Agriculture Cooperative) is made up of a group of small farmers living in the Purosa/Okapa region of Papua New Guinea's eastern upland province. With its picturesque scenery and rich Rain Water and volcanic soil, it is ideal for growing high-quality Arabica coffee, but the region is also poor and the dilapidated external roads make it impossible or expensive to deliver to the market, the only cash crop.

Join the fair trade and use the community development fund to boost the local economy

In 2006, HOAC joined the Fair Trade Organization, which not only benefited farmers, but also invested the community development funds returned by Fairtrade into the construction of external roads, smoothing the originally muddy roads that could not be driven safely, building a safe road for residents of the entire region and reducing the cost of transporting coffee. In addition, HOAC also uses the Fair Trade Community Development Fund to enhance local medical services, buy more medicine and bed sheets for medical centers, and buy books and notebooks for schools, so that local residents can have a better living and learning environment.

The PNG HOAC Cooperative uses the community development fund returned by the sale of each product to build water conservancy facilities to provide clean drinking water for local residents. Source: Fairtrade Australia New Zealand

The great ambition of small farmers' cooperatives

The dream of the small farmers of the HOAC cooperative is not only that. In addition to working with Fairtrade to implement their community building plan, they also plan to use community development funds. Not only that, the Fairtrade Community Development Fund also buys new coffee washing equipment and processing equipment for the local area, so that farmers can pick the coffee beans, wash and peel them in fresh water in time, and keep the coffee beans intact, in addition to improving the quality of the products. At the same time, we can master more links of the supply chain and make more profits and be more competitive in the market.

HOAC cooperatives use community development funds to upgrade coffee production equipment, improve the quality of coffee beans and become more competitive in the market. Source: Fairtrade Australia New Zealand

Fair Trade Coffee beans Papua New Guinea Mini Archives

Product name: Enorga, Papua New Guinea

Production area: Okapa area of the eastern highlands

Flavor: taste: sweet, three-dimensional with citrus acid, some tangerine peel flavor

Producer: Highlands Organic Agriculture Co-operative Limited (HOAC Cooperative)

Number of farmers: 2604

Treatment: high quality Arabica beans, water washing and sun treatment

Variety: Typica, Arusha, Bourbon

Certification: fair trade certification, organic certification

Altitude: 1300 to 1750 m