Coffee Brings Hope: How Interventions are Rebuilding Communities in PNG

For many young people growing up in the beautiful Nebiliyer Valley of Western Highlands Province, a good life, filled with peace and opportunity, often felt like a faraway dream. For nearly 45 long years, their home was caught in the grip of a tribal conflict between the Ulka and Kulka tribes – a conflict made famous by the documentary ‘Joe Leahy’s Neighbors’. During those tough times, the government had to pull out its workers, and the area was simply blacklisted.

Half a Century of Hard Coffee Lessons

Now, after almost half a century, peace efforts are finally bringing new hope for a better future. People are slowly but surely starting to fix up their old coffee gardens. Pius Maip, a respected ex-soldier and tribal leader who was right in the thick of the fighting, shares some painful lessons from that time. His thick white beard and tired eyes tell a story of immense hardship.

“As an ex-soldier, I was responsible for bringing in a lot of guns to arm my tribesmen,” he openly admits. “We learned the hard way. Services stopped. Many lives were lost. Many women were hurt. Now, we’ve started planting coffee again. It’s our women who have truly made this possible.”

Indeed, the women are leading the charge! The Kualga Women’s Development Association bravely stepped up and sought help from the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC). Through the CIC’s PNG Agriculture Commercialization and Diversification (PACD) Project, this determined group received a massive K654,600. This funding is helping them build a coffee nursery, an office, and a wet bean factory – a true sign of progress.

More Than Just Coffee Beans

For Simon Gesip, the PACD’s Senior Partnership Officer, this Nebiliyer project is about much more than just coffee. “It’s about fixing relationships that were broken over 45 years of tribal conflict,” he explains. “Many people have benefited from documentaries about this place, but the rich agricultural potential of this region has been sitting idle for so many years because people were too afraid to go into the district.”

The new Nebiliyer factory and nursery is the biggest coffee investment in the area in the last 30 years. It’s one of several government-backed projects designed to boost our coffee production and help our hardworking farmers get their coffee to the world market.

Hatavile Coffee: A Story of Local Success

Down in Asaro, Eastern Highlands, the story of Hatavile Coffee shows just what’s possible. This family-owned business, run by Phillip Timbi and his family, has grown impressively over the past decade. Hatavile has expanded its reach, bringing in smallholder farmers from all over the Eastern Highlands by offering them better prices for their coffee.

Thanks to a smart partnership with a Korean buyer, Hatavile has been able to upgrade its production with brand-new equipment. Just yesterday, the CIC proudly granted Hatavile a coffee export license! This means this small, village-based company can now send its coffee directly to the global market.

“The export license has taken away some of my burden, but it has given me a new kind of pressure,” Phillip Timbi shared, a mix of relief and determination in his voice. “I now have the responsibility to maintain quality for people overseas.”

These vital interventions, first through the former CIC-PPAP and now the CIC-PACD Project, are designed to make coffee farming easier and more profitable for our people. The goal is for every coffee factory to grow strong enough to eventually get its own export license, allowing more of our PNG coffee to reach the world, bringing prosperity and peace to our communities.