STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 63 K O N S U L - S M I D T - S T R A S S E 8 j S P E I C H ER 1 - D - 2 8 2 17 B R E M E N FON + 4 9 - 4 2 1 - 3 4 8 5 2 6 4 F A X + 4 9 - 4 2 1 - 3 4 7 7 7 2 0 W W W . K K T E E . D E M A I L @ K K T E E . D E K L O T H & K Ö H N K E N T E E H A N D E L G M B H FAIR AND Q U A L I - T E A ! INDONESIA AUSTRALIA New Guinea SOLOMON ISLANDS Port Moresby New Britain New Ireland Bougainville Island Choiseul I. New Hanover I. Manus I. Woodlark I. Tagula I. Goodenough I. Fergusson I. Normanby I. PAPUA NEW GUINEA Papua, with a population of 8 million, occupies the eastern half of New Guinea Island Alliance and UTZ (now merged) work- ing with growers to produce certified or- ganic coffees. Export revenue is rising. The trouble is consistency. Without central control, quality varies widely from farm to farm. As the PHAMA report points out, certification programs are important to the region's success, along with improving grading standards and introducing cupping and roasting chal- lenges to excite the imaginations of cof- fee producers. The potential is there but tapping that potential depends on applying qual- ity farming practices across the country. Education those working small farms to consistently bring high-grade beans to the market is largely a matter of demon- strating best practices. Some 400,000 families in Papua rely on the coffee trade, plenty of local grow- ers are willing to learn. This is buoy- ing hopes that PNG coffee will make a comeback as a unique origin that will pique the interest of specialty drinkers in European and North American markets. A bumpy road to success The majority of coffee in Papua is exported to Germany, the US, and nearby Australia. Its output is small, especially compared to neighboring Indonesia, the fourth largest coffee producer in the world. Indonesia, which produces 10 times more coffee, ex- perienced devastating flooding and land- slides last year, reducing coffee exports by a fifth to 500,000 metric tons, which benefitted Papua. Infrastructure remains a big challenge. Poor roads and a hilly, jungle-covered land- scape make shipping difficult, creating complications in logistics that frustrates buyers. Another roadblock is crime. The high rate limits how coffee producers can operate, cre- ating adding costs for security and potential losses from only operating during daylight. Here to help The government is keen to remove roadblocks to what could be a thriving, sustainable coffee industry. Policy changes are under review and outside organizations are entering Papua to help growers improve their product and educate local growers. The power of Papua's women is also being tapped. Women in PNG are respon- sible for most of the quality-dependent tasks in coffee farming, and yet they earn only a fraction of the men and have little control over process. Investing in women's farming groups and educating them could be key to changing the industry and getting quality up to where it should be. Papua is still a tribal country, its people speaking some 800 different languages. This is partly why coffee cultivation is dominated by small 'gardens' as opposed to large- scale farms, and why regulation has been a struggle. Papua's government is strongly committed to make coffee a sustainable business for their people which is encouraging the specialty market abroad as well. When it's done properly, coffee grown in PNG sits among the world's best. It would be a shame to continue wasting that potential.

• Cover