Kayaking Watut River in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.

By Gradient Water

One thing you quickly become accustomed to in Papua New Guinea is that people do not sleep in. After first stirring because of the infuriating sound of the village rooster, some insect that makes a sound similar to a angle-grinder finally drove me to get up. As I emerged from the tent, I soon realised that everyone in the village was awake and going about their daily routine. Feeling I had slept long and well, I asked Barny what the time was... it was 6.20am! Ok, it is not a ridiculous time to be awake but for EVERYONE to be up and doing something (a lot were waiting quietly for us to get up).

This morning we made our first 'Green' moment (something we shouldn't have done) and offered to help out Okam with 'EXTRA' money, on top of the 300Kina we paid, for him to return to Lae and get his petrol tank repaired so he could assist us later in the day... I do not think we ever seen his truck again, but moving on. So about 60km, twenty of which was 4x4, away from the nearest town and we were in the market for transport. Fortunately Reuben Mete got onto his 'Digicel' and was able to organise a land cruiser to come and pick us up. So after some PNG-time Graham and Rex rolled up to Sambio and we were on the mission, down to Gwasak to get on the Middle Watut... on day two!

Gwasak is last last village accessible by road along the middle section of the Watut, and the first village without power. We were welcomed by a small crowd of locals and were given permission to access the river from there. Once ready, we made our way down to the river where we seen our first alluvial golden miners. This is the main source of income for the Middle Watut Villages, which has been drastically effected as a result of the silting from the Hidden Vally Mine. After heeding warnings from the locals, "You're going to die" and "Impossible, you will fall our of your boats", we were on the water... big water.

After making our way down the 3 or 4 km of big water IV+ we were greeted by a large group of cheering locals at Bamjim. We had been the first group to paddle this section for over ten years, the last of whom were the unfortunate Israeli group that lost some members of their group that trip. As usual everyone was interested in us, our gear and well us really, so we spent a couple of hours giving people a chance to use our kayaks, pose for photos and just hang out really.

Though coming to the Watut was not part of our original plan, it was a worthwhile being able to help the Union of the Watut River Communities raise awareness for the up-coming forum, to forge some relationships that would turn out to REALLY help our expedition and just to paddle some cool white-water.

That evening we returned to Sambio and made a plan for the next day. Our plan was to go further up the Watut River, through Bululo to a village called 'Society' and then paddle down to 'Baiune', a section that had never been paddled before... First Descent No.1!

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.