By AUGUSTINE DOMINIC
DISADVANTAGED and marginalised coffee farmers in PNG would now be served better under an agreement signed recently by the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) and Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand (FTANZ), The National reports.
Both parties agreed to work together to help farmers in developing sustainable coffee farming projects and seek international trade systems based on justice and fairness.
While signing the agreement at Lae International Hotel, CIC’s general manager for research and grower services Dr Mark Kenny expressed relief that a new path was being created for PNG coffee farmers to reach their full potential in coffee farming and trading.
He encouraged coffee farmers to join forces with CIC and other Fairtrade-certified coffee companies in PNG to benefit from the deals.
Programme manager FTANZ Maria J Trogolo said Fairtrade’s vision was of a world in which justice and sustainable development were at the heart of trade structures and practices so that everyone, through their work, could maintain a decent and dignified livelihood and develop their full potential.
“To achieve this vision, Fairtrade seeks to transform trading structures and practices in favour of the poor and disadvantaged,” Trogolo said.
“By facilitating trading partnerships based on equity and transparency, Fairtrade contributes to sustainable development for marginalised producers, workers and their communities.”
“Through demonstration of alternatives to conventional trade and other forms of advocacy, the Fairtrade movement empowers citizens to campaign for an international trade system based on justice and fairness.”
So far, one coffee farmer group, the Neknasi Coffee Cooperative, in Nawaeb district of Morobe province has received Fairtrade certification while eight other groups in the province are undergoing the certification process.
CIC’s provincial farmer training and extension coordinators from the Highlands and Momase regions were invited to witness the signing, which motivated them to connect their coffee farmer groups to Fairtrade certification
DISADVANTAGED and marginalised coffee farmers in PNG would now be served better under an agreement signed recently by the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) and Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand (FTANZ), The National reports.
Both parties agreed to work together to help farmers in developing sustainable coffee farming projects and seek international trade systems based on justice and fairness.
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| Morobe-based CIC mobile extension officer John Kabuba explaining coffee quality process to the remote farmers in Imani village in the Markham Valley |
He encouraged coffee farmers to join forces with CIC and other Fairtrade-certified coffee companies in PNG to benefit from the deals.
Programme manager FTANZ Maria J Trogolo said Fairtrade’s vision was of a world in which justice and sustainable development were at the heart of trade structures and practices so that everyone, through their work, could maintain a decent and dignified livelihood and develop their full potential.
“To achieve this vision, Fairtrade seeks to transform trading structures and practices in favour of the poor and disadvantaged,” Trogolo said.
“By facilitating trading partnerships based on equity and transparency, Fairtrade contributes to sustainable development for marginalised producers, workers and their communities.”
“Through demonstration of alternatives to conventional trade and other forms of advocacy, the Fairtrade movement empowers citizens to campaign for an international trade system based on justice and fairness.”
So far, one coffee farmer group, the Neknasi Coffee Cooperative, in Nawaeb district of Morobe province has received Fairtrade certification while eight other groups in the province are undergoing the certification process.
CIC’s provincial farmer training and extension coordinators from the Highlands and Momase regions were invited to witness the signing, which motivated them to connect their coffee farmer groups to Fairtrade certification