Photo credit: The Coffee Warehouse
Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon believes that coffee and cocoa should be exported through a government organisation.
Simon stated the private sector could not continue to export and suppress prices in response to concerns from Pomio MP Elias Kapavore.
“I have talked to the department (Agriculture and Livestock) and the commodity boards to look at this and we are planning to come up with a policy that the raw products should be exported by a state agency,” Simon said.
“The raw products, especially parchment coffee, green bean coffee, cocoa beans should be exported by a state agency.
“This is so that we can also get involved in the market, the department has not been involved in the market.”
He said that the commodities boards were solely involved in extension programs and other services, not in the selling of the country's agricultural products.
“I have been having meetings with our commodity boards to get involved in the market,” Simon said.
“We need to in order to get the right price, the correct price to our farmers.
“The world prices are very good, the world has opened up.
“We know what the prices are and there is no reason why our farmers should continue to get less than K5 or K6 on parchment coffee and cocoa as well.
“The prices are out there, the population of the world has grown and the demand for coffee, cocoa and a lot of our commodities is very good.” Simon encouraged coffee and cocoa growers to continue to grow as the commodities were doing well on the international market.
Reference: The National (20 January 2022. “A state agency should export coffee, cocoa: Minister”.
