March 7th 2021
The Marape Government’s Agriculture Price Support Scheme is having a marked impact on rural cocoa growers, according to PNG Agriculture Company (PNGAC) CEO Brad Jackson.
PNGAC, owned by cocoa growers, is the vehicle in East New Britain through which price support is paid to growers.
Jackson revealed this during a recent visit by Agriculture and Livestock Minister Hon. John Simon (on Saturday, February 27, 2021) to remote Kadaulung in Inland Baining, East New Britain, to see for himself how the price support scheme is progressing.
The scheme has seen the price of wet cocoa beans increase from K1.50 per kg to K3 per kg.
“In the last six weeks, which is about nine buying days, this buying point (Kadaulung) has purchased close to 50 tonnes (of cocoa),” Jackson told Minister Simon and a cheering crowd at Kadaulung.
“That’s injected K150,000 into the pockets of farmers in this little area alone.
“The PNGAC Group, over the last six weeks, has purchased over 200 tonnes (in East New Britain) and injected over K600,000 into the pockets of farmers.
“Over this period, with price support, we would have purchased around 1000 bags.”
Jackson said the Kadaulung Trade Store had entered into a partnership with PNGAC to be a buying point, and also with MiBank, so that people could come and sell their wet beans with money transferred straight into their bank accounts.
“That’s happening increasingly, everywhere we go to,” he said.
“It’s a very good initiative because everywhere we go to, this is creating a very good opportunity for the trade stores, with all of them expanding their sales and more money is staying in these villages.
“People should know that bank accounts are your very foundation for wealth.
“Without a bank account, you’re never going to really increase your wealth, so the bank account is so important.
“You guys are really getting on board now, you’re opening more and more bank accounts, and you will see savings.”
Jackson said some of PNGAC’s buying groups have had 100 per cent banking payments made so far this year.
“When it came to school fees, they (growers) had money in their bank accounts, and they would have paid straight away,” he said.
“They didn’t even have to stand in the big queue in banks (in Kokopo) to do it.
“They just got their mobile phones and pressed ‘tick, tick, tick, tick’ and the money was in the school account.
“Amazing.”
Jackson said growers and families were now seeing the benefits of banking, “because every week they see their bank statements and it goes up, up, up, up because they’re not offered cash and they’re not spending it”.
“This is a very great initiative for farmers,” he said.
“PNG Agriculture Company – your company – will want to continue to improve what we do so we can find better prices, so we can pass it back to you farmers.
“I’m very proud to be showing the Minister what you guys what have achieved so far.”