NOT SWALLOWING THEIR PRIDE

Smallholders in Papua New Guinea
Fight for Coffee Rights

Coffee buyers of Papua New Guinea today will find it hard to get coffee

Coffee companies of PNG today will find it hard to get coffee

Today we have found a way already

You will sell your coffee out

To the world market and a lot of cash will land on our hand

To the world market and a lot of cash will land on our hand

óVerse from Papua New Guinea coffee song

RITUALS, SONGS AND CEREMONIES are an intricate part of Papua New Guinea life. My first encounter with Papua New Guinea’s elaborate tribal culture began during a remarkable initiation ceremony at the Mitega cooperative near the town of Goroka. When we arrived at the village, a crowd of at least a hundred tribe members dressed in colorful, traditional outfits ran toward us, waving exotic feathers. The group sang a welcome song, accompanied by chanting, singing and the occasional happy shriek.

     The scene was so overwhelming that I felt like a five-year-old discovering life in all its essence. Quickly, we were pulled to the front of the crowd and a younger man and woman, dressed in festive, bright-colored indigenous clothing, took my arm. In the sudden silence, I felt my heart beating a steady drum of expectation and excitement.
     A brief ritual followed. Some murmuring, some shuffling and then someone placed a hand-made woolen cap on my head. An older man with a dark brown hat, dressed in a dusty dark green suit, uttered a loud shriek. Some of the women followed with high-pitched yells. At that moment, I felt I had really arrived in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
     I had traveled to PNG with my associate Andi Trindle to organize the first-ever Pride of PNG Coffee Competition. Our mission during the five weeks we were there was to organize a national cupping event specifically for the smallholder coffee cooperatives of PNG.
     Coffee in PNG is a vital cash crop for the more than 277,000 smallholder farmers. The same crop is also an immensely profitable commodity for the elite group of foreign-owned trading companies who make high profits by applying the old colonial philosophy of buy low and sell high. This disparity between the subsistence of small farmers and the wealth of traders has made coffee a highly politicized commodity.
     In the last few years, farming communities have started to regroup by forming cooperatives and a new organization has emerged: the PNG Coffee Growers Federation. Their founder is Jon Yogio, an inspiring man with a strong vision. Yogio created a partnership with Coffee Pacifica, the US-based marketing and distribution company of PNG cooperative coffees. Their mission, to market cooperative-produced coffee directly to buyers overseas without the use of middlemen and foreign traders, is already changing the status quo of PNG coffee business. The organization is also the sponsor of the Pride of PNG coffee competition.

Coffee Cultivation and History

In PNG, one can find a magnificent collection of noble coffee varieties that generally produce pretty-looking, larger screen size beans. The first coffee seeds were introduced to PNG by Lutheran Missionaries in the 1930s. Initially, the bourbon variety was introduced with seeds from Kenya. Later on, arabica typica seeds from the Jamaican Blue Mountain area were introduced, and in the early 1950s, the arusha variety was introduced from Tanzania. The arusha, especially, is a coffee type that produces an unusually large bean with a mild-sweet and balanced flavor.
     In the post World War II years, policies adopted by the colonial Australian administration resulted in a rapid expansion of coffee production in the highlands. The pre-war plantings in and around the research station of Aiyura were rehabilitated and improved. The colonial government of PNG started a campaign geared towards the indigenous population of PNG to promote the cultivation of coffee. During the 1950s, an extensive program was launched to establish seed gardens and to provide technical assistance to up-and-coming PNG coffee farmers.
     All of which leads to the quality of coffee that is being grown in the country today. Throughout my stay in PNG, I was impressed by the visual appearance of the cooperative coffees. There is something magical about the natural harmony surrounding PNG coffee farms, traditionally maintained by smallholder farmers who are applying—by default—organic cultivation methods. Farmers like those of the Rika-Rika cooperative, located in the Central Highlands of PNG, who are utilizing nitrogen fixing shade trees and basic practices to maintain a healthy and fertile soil.
     As often happens, this care translates into some truly amazing coffees. While preparing for the coffee competition, we were impressed by the beautiful, clean appearance of the coffee beans. In general, the beans had a bold size, and we measured average screen sizes of 16 and up. Obviously, the use of quality coffee varieties, such as bourbon, typica and arusha, contributes to this appearance.
     And how about the cup, the most important quality parameter? As part of my work with the Pride of PNG competition, I had the opportunity to judge the coffees along with Ken Davids, Orrel Lanter, Paul Katzeff and others. In total, we cupped more than 110 coffees from at least 75 different cooperatives.
     Most of the coffees were from the Central and Eastern Highlands, and the tastes varied as much as the co-ops themselves: Bungim Han (balanced flavor with chocolate and dried fruit), Nofemu (pleasant fruity flavor with floral aftertaste), Zaguomento (soft round impact, mellow acidity, great balance), Stakss (balanced, sweet, citrus and lingering complex aftertaste) and last but not least, the competition winner Rika Rika (refreshing, lemony acidity, juicy mouthfeel with balanced fruit aftertaste). All of us were truly impressed by the quality potential of PNG’s smallholder coffees.

The Struggle of PNG’s Smallholder Farmers

During my five-week visit, I interviewed many coffee farmers and other stakeholders of the PNG coffee industry. I discovered that at least 85 percent of all coffee exports are produced by smallholder coffee farmers who usually live under traditional circumstances in small, tribal villages. The clan culture of PNG forms the backbone of civilization in this country. Smallholder farmers usually run well-diversified agricultural units, often in collaboration with other tribal members.
     Yogio explained to me how important coffee farming can be for the average person in Papua New Guinea. “When a boy is born, at some point he has to prove his manhood and proving yourself as a man can be done in PNG in three ways: by being a fighter in a tribal war, by raising a pig or by planting and growing coffee,” he says. “Obviously I prefer the coffee option.”
     Despite the fact that smallholders produce the majority of all coffee exports in PNG, they receive the lowest price for their product. As in many coffee countries around the world, PNG’s dry mills are owned by the exporters, who both buy parchment beans and export and sell processed green beans. As a result, the exporters own all the classification and grading equipment that is necessary to prepare the coffee for shipment overseas.
     So, where does this leave the smallholder farmer? In most cases, the indigenous farmers are located far away from the warehouses of the exporters and coffee millers. They end up selling the processed parchment beans to intermediaries who can transport the beans and who generally have an ongoing relationship with the exporter.
     As in East Africa, the grading quality in PNG is set by bean size and appearance (Table A.). The bigger, bolder coffee beans are classified as “A” or “AA”, while smaller beans are grouped in a lower category. As one would expect, the higher the coffee’s ranking in the classification chart, the higher potential price.
     PNG also has a grade that is unique to the country: the Native Y Grade. This grade is automatically given to coffees that are offered directly or indirectly by smallholder farmers. The word native indicates that the beans came from an indigenous small farmer, while the Y indicates that the coffee is of a lower and cheaper commercial quality.
     As a result, exporters can reap huge profits by underrating good and sound coffee beans, subsequently buying these coffees at very low prices, screening and grading the beans at their own mill and offering the same coffee for export less than two weeks later for at least double, and sometimes triple, the price that the producer received. Various industry stakeholders privately admitted that this practice is widespread in PNG.
     After talking with nearly a dozen cooperatives from around the premium-production area of the Central Highlands, I realized that most smallholder coffee producers in PNG receive between $0.25 to $0.35 per pound of parchment coffee, which in 2005 was less then one third of the average New York C price. Yet, as I mentioned above, these coffees are not to be confused with C-market coffees, by any means.
     So how does the average smallholder farmer feel about the prevailing circumstances of PNG’s coffee industry? During the competition, we met with representatives of the coffee co-ops, and could taste the desperation of the farmers. The crowd of coffee farmers welcomed us at the fairgrounds of the Mitega cooperative and all the farmers had assembled in a large circle around an improvised podium that was set up for the foreign visitors. Under the dark, starry night we entered the scene and we were met by a crowd that was larger than I could have expected even in my wildest dreams; at least 1,200 people must have been waiting for us. The unforgettable night was filled with ceremonies and speeches, dances and performances. Some of the farmers had traveled for days in busses and walked for several days and nights barefoot, just to get a glimpse of the coffee tasters and buyers.
     The sentiments of the majority of PNG’s farmers that we saw at that event seemed to echo those of Kevin Poke, spokesman for the Avani Cooperative, who spoke to us during a dinner. “We are on a warpath,” he said. “The white man who does not grow our coffee, he will go. The writing is on the wall. You can tell that man, his days are numbered. We want to be the brokers of coffee, the processors of coffee and we want to be the exporters of coffee. The fight starts now.”
     Obviously, these strong expressions left us—the visiting coffee cuppers—speechless and silently reflecting on his words and the future of coffee in PNG. The good news is that the new wave of trading coffee, introduced by the Federation of PNG Coffee Growers, offers hope to PNG smallholders.

WILLEM BOOT is president of Boot Coffee Consulting & Training in Mill Valley, Calif., specializing in cupping and roasting courses and strategic consulting for the coffee industry. He can be reached at willemboot@bootcoffee.com or at 415.380.1999.

SIDEBAR

Owena Cooperative:
Taking to the Skies

One of the most compelling members of the Papua New Guinea Coffee Growers Federation is the Owena Cooperative, isolated by the rugged mountains of the North Eastern Central Highlands. The Owena coffee farmers used to transport all their processed parchment beans by foot, which required a journey of two days and two nights with the risk of getting robbed during the trip back.
     In the past few years, a small airline managed by missionaries has started a weekly connection to transport the parchment beans of the Owena Cooperative to Aiyura, from where the beans can be transported to Goroka. Despite the high cost of transport, this solution still provides the Owena farmers with life-saving income.
     Our visit to Owena was truly unforgettable. Our small missionary airplane landed abruptly on the steeply inclined landing strip near the Owena village. Ceremonies and speeches followed, and a small music group comprised of Owena Cooperative members presented a beautiful coffee song using simple rhythmic instruments and a guitar.
     Last but not least, I was able to wander off and make some friendships with the assembled farmers, who were all dressed in stunning, traditional outfits with the most remarkable ornaments. Some of their shields were shaped like the wings of a plane, to symbolize the method of transport that had relieved their community from despair. Their noses were pierced with bright white boar teeth and most of them wore straw skirts decorated with colorful strings. Many clan members held beautifully carved wooden arrows which emphasized their proud manhood.
     Remarkably, I felt so much at ease with my newly found coffee friends that nothing in the world would destroy my piece of mind; I had found my coffee brothers. I almost felt as though, I too, could fly with them, toward that place in the future. —Willem Boot

SIDEBAR

Papua New Guinea Explored

PAPUA NEW GUINEA measures about 480,000 square kilometers and lies within the southern tropics about 160 kilometers north of the northeast tip of Australia. Its land includes the eastern half of the island of New Guinea (the western being Irian Jaya) and more than 600 islands and island groups, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, Buka and the Bismark Archipelago.
     More than one-third of PNG’s 5,670,544 people are concentrated within the Highland provinces. Port Moresby is by far the largest center, with a population of approximately 200,000.
     English, one of the two official languages along with Pidgin, is used most commonly in commerce and education. In addition, there are more than 700 distinct languages in the country. Expatriates, consisting predominately of Australians, account for a total of approximately 20,000 people.
     The rugged mountainous terrain and the lack of adequate infrastructure make access to many areas in the country very difficult. Obviously, coffee farmers struggle most with the lack of roads and mountain passages. Some communities are only accessible by air, which makes the transport of parchment coffee an expensive affair.

Industry Structure

The PNG coffee industry is made up of growers, millers and exporters. The official government institute designed for the support of the industry is the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC).
     Smallholders account for some 85 percent of total production. It is estimated that there are around 277,000 smallholder growers, with less than 1,500 trees per household. The growers are distributed across the entire country and typically produce parchment coffee, which is sold to exporters/millers or their agents, the intermediaries. Smallholder coffee is almost always grown under shade, which reduces the dependence on fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. This system of production does however limit the production yield. Besides the smallholders, there are the so-called “block-holders” and the plantations or estates.
     The development of 20-hectare blocks began in the late 1970s and gained momentum in the early ’80s. The larger plantations measure anywhere between 80 hectares and 2,000 hectares and utilize more chemical intensive growing methods. Some of these plantations were formerly owned by foreign settlers.
     As in most coffee countries worldwide, smallholders are located in areas that are often very remote and the logistics of coffee beans can often be very challenging if not impossible. The intermediaries, who are often the buying agents for the coffee millers and exporters, fill in the missing link of transportation with their trucks. In some cases, airplanes are being used. Specifically the most remote smallholder farmers can be the victims of the unethical practices of intermediaries.
     The export mills are licensed by the Coffee Industry Corporation to monitor quality standards of green beans produced for export. There are at least 50 licensed mills and about 20 unlicensed mills operated by the plantations. In the mills, parchment coffee is prepared to the required moisture content of 11 percent before it is hulled, polished and graded to meet the required export classifications.
     In PNG, the larger exporters are also the millers of their own coffee and so they wear two hats; as the buyer of parchment beans and as the seller of green coffee beans. In 2004, PNG had 18 licensed exporters who directly negotiate prices with overseas buyers. Exporters usually do not get directly involved with the marketing of their green beans to coffee roasting companies. The remote location of PNG makes it very challenging to do business overseas. An exception is the PNG Coffee Growers Federation, which obtained an exporters license a few years ago. They are actively involved in directly marketing and selling cooperative coffees.

Culture

Every year, a beautiful festival is held in Goroka, featuring the tribal culture and folklore of Papua New Guinea. Tribes from all around PNG visit Goroka to showcase their ethnical heritage. I experienced an incredible series of performances. The dancing and chanting started in the early morning and would easily continue for eight hours straight. It was fascinating to see how some tribes were exhausting themselves to the point that they almost entered a trance-like state of mind. And then there were the aromas; sweat, dusty bird feathers and muddy sand.
     For these events, many groups dressed in costumes with bright red “Bird Of Paradise” feathers (a legendary local bird); other groups had radiant yellow painted faces and there was this gang of little kid-warriors who were painted entirely black with partially shaven heads. One clan is called the Asaro Mudmen; they dress themselves with mud and clay; including a frightening armor-like mask which covers their head entirely. The Asaro Mudmen live in traditional roundhouses amidst their cash crop: coffee. One warrior let me wear his mask and it felt very heavy; like a ton of bricks. As much as I loved watching the ceremonies, I wouldn’t advise anyone to become an Asaro warrior. —Willem Boot