Middle Watut coffee farmers attend coffee rehabilitation training.

By Morobe Miner

One of the coffee blocks covered by choco which will undergo rehabilitation. Very high up in remote Givekes Village in the Middle Watut region of Morobe Province, a community is gearing up to rehabilitate what could be the biggest coffee plantation in this region.  

Givekes or Kapin 2, as it is known in the Bulolo District, has recently completed a week-long coffee rehabilitation training program conducted by two extension officers from the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) and funded by the Morobe Mining Joint Ventures (MMJV). According to these officers, John Kabuba and Clement Mira, Givekes coffee has the potential to change the lives of the villagers forever. Mr Kabuba, having worked with coffee farmers for over 23 years, recognises quality coffee when he sees one and Givekes coffee, he predicts, is destine for greatness. But he said the hard work now is to rehabilitate this once thriving coffee plantation and in order for that to become a success the community should work together.

The 100-hectare coffee plantation was planted some 30 to 40 years ago at the top of what villagers call as the ‘Bisnis Maunten,’ almost an hour’s walk up a steep slippery track. Over the years these trees were neglected. They grew out of control and the whole mountain side was invaded by choko or sako in Tok Pisin, a local edible leaf and fruit that grows wild in the Bulolo District.“The rehabilitation program will revive this plantation. There are three parts to this program. The first component is garden management and that’s what we taught them throughout the week. The second part is to revisit the plantation and select suckers and show villagers what needs to be done to these suckers and then finally we’ll have to come again in mid-2014 and identify old stumps/stem and cut them to allow for regrowth. This would complete the cycle of rehabilitation,” said Mr Kabuba. He stressed that it was important that the villagers attend the rest of the training including components two and three.

Community Development Advocate and President of the Union of Watut River Communities Association Incorporated, Reuben Mete who is also from the area, thanked MMJV for funding the training.“One way to bring development into the community is through this coffee rehabilitation program. We have to fix our coffee and with the training provided by CIC with financial and logistical support from MMJV, we are able to complete level one. We believe that coffee will become a primary source of income here and we hope that MMJV will support us to continue with level two and three. CIC must come back and show us proper ways of harvesting and processing so we can be in a better position to export the best quality coffee,” he said. 

Women would benefit most from this coffee rehabilitation. Of the 50 participants that attended the training, 15 of them were female and they were keen to see this project get off the ground. “We learnt a lot from this training. Previously we followed our grandparents system of cleaning around the coffee and when it was ready, we climbed the branches to pick the cherries. Now we were taught otherwise. We can prune the coffee so that it can grow better and it would also allow us to stand on the ground and pick the ripe cherries,” said participant Mrs Kiking Teta. Mrs Teta, whose husband is a village court magistrate for the Mumeng District in the Middle Watut area, is excited about the prospect. She said it’s often very difficult for women to pick coffee and carry down to the village because of the very steep terrain and slippery bush tracks but they are committed to see this through. According to Mr Kabuba, if the rehabilitation is successful to a stage where they can produce green bean and export themselves, their 100 hectare has the potential to produce over 86 000 tonnes of coffee and could fetch the village over K1 million annually.“That is our target. We have to try to get their coffee certified organic. If we get the coffee to be recognized by International Standards Organisation (ISO) and get it certified, we would help the community get two separate incomes. The extra income would be specifically for community development which would go into their corporative society for projects in the community,” he said.

MMJV Primary Industry Coordinator, Steven Mantari, said the company recognises the importance of helping the community to improve their livelihood.“We need to empower the community so that the community can be able to look after themselves and whatever development needs they identify, they have the power to make it happen. We have to work together with our stakeholders to facilitate this change,” he said.“This is the first time MMJV has come into the Middle Watut area to conduct coffee training. Previously they’ve conducted similar trainings in the Upper Watut and Biangai region. I’d like to thank Givekes community for identifying the need to rehabilitate your coffee gardens to improve your livelihood. You have taken the step to empowering yourself and that is great for the community,” said Mr Mantari. He said MMJV acts as facilitator and that the company works together with stakeholders such as CIC to achieve the target of the local, district, provincial and national governments agriculture development plans.“We are committed to this program and we want Givekes community to become a model community in the Middle Watut in terms of producing quality organic coffee,” he said. Givekes villagers now have a mammoth task ahead of them to rehabilitate their coffee plantation on the ‘Bisnis Maunten.