GREAT WORKS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA!
We’ve been buying beans from Papua New Guinea for many years now, and it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, with some extraordinary coffee. A lot of our people-centered development work with coffee communities in this country is focused on connecting them with the outside world in ways that had otherwise been unimaginable. Such a far-flung country, to which it can literally take days to travel and where communication can be sporadic at best, doesn’t always get the attention it needs from Fair Traders like ourselves. We’ve made a real commitment to visiting our trading partners in Papua New Guinea and amazing work has been accomplished because of the important face to face time and the relationships that we’ve been able to cultivate.
When Dean visited the highlands of Papua New Guinea in late 2005, he immediately saw a whole host of obstacles the farmers faced, which simple technological advancements could remove. For example, farmers were literally stripping coffee beans of their fruit exterior by grinding them with rocks. This time-consuming practice meant that farmers were taking ages to depulp the beans, and this in a world where most farmers use machines to increase efficiency. This, combined with the fact that farmers were transporting 60 pound bags on their backs, over rough, mountainous terrain, meant that delivery time, and the quantity of coffee brought to market were both compromised.
Dean also noted that many of the farming communities weren’t yet hooked into the Fair Trade system because they weren’t organized into legal cooperatives or certified by the International Fair Trade Labelling Organization (FLO). This meant that all the hard work carried out in these secluded, jungle communities wasn’t necessarily being recognized by coffee brokers in the form of fair payment. Dean’s Beans knew how it could be most useful by sharing observations about how other coffee communities have improved processing and delivery, and by using our extensive network to get the coffee communities on the fast-track to Fair Trade certification. While on the trip, Dean spent many hours, sometimes late into the night, meeting with coffee communities to discuss the benefits of the Fair Trade system, which could bring increased revenues and access to new international markets.
Since then there have been some exciting new developments. Dean’s Beans has sent the mountain communities of Chimbu Province depulping machines that can be used by hand (no electricity required!). In addition, the farmers of Digne and Henganefi, the two areas Dean visited, have formed coops and received legal registration. FLO started collaborating with the farmers in July of 2006 to move them onto the Fair Trade registry.
It was during this trip, and during the conversations that Dean facilitated, that another project was born. By putting the head of Tribal Aromas (the organizing body for the coffee communities), Iggy Palma, in touch with the Asian Development Bank, low-interest micro-lending programs have been introduced into the coffee communities. This is helping farmers diversify their income streams, lessening financial reliance on a single cash crop. In July of 2006, there were already 70 farmers who had access to the program, with a new center being built in one of the coffee communities.
This is People-Centered Development at its best! By using knowledge acquired over years of working with coffee communities, by listening intently and without bias to community members’ needs and views, and by co-creating simple and meaningful solutions, Dean’s Beans has been able to positively and sustainably contribute to the well-being and long-term vitality of these coffee communities. We wish them increased success and can’t wait for another fruitful visit!
