Papua New Guinea appoints first-ever Minister for Coffee

For the first time in world history, a minister has been appointed for coffee, one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape on August 23 appointed Joe Kuli from the Wahgi Valley, where the largest coffee plantations exist, as a minister for coffee to revive the country’s coffee production after it has declined, Papua New Guinea Today reported.

“It goes without saying that PNG’s declining coffee production has been largely due to the collapse of the 14 Wahgi Mek plantations […] Minister Kuli’s focus will be coffee, coffee, and coffee. […] I want to see more coffee grown for export to the lucrative markets of the world,” Marape was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The prime minister also appointed three others ministers for the agriculture sector. Aiye Tambua was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Francis Maneke as Minister for Oil Palm, and Seki Agisa as Minister for Livestock.

Coffee is the country’s second leading agricultural commodity, bringing in millions of dollars in foreign revenues, as it is planted in 18 out of 22 provinces nationwide. More than 450,000 households (about 3.3 million people) depend on coffee planting, according to the official website of the PNG Department of Agriculture and Livestock.

However, coffee production has seen a decline over the past years due to certain reasons, according to a report issued by the Papua New Guinea National Research Institute (PNG NRI) in July 2022.

These challenges include inadequate access to basic infrastructure and facilities, inadequate extension services, high costs of replacing old coffee trees, change of cropping pattern, pests and diseases, unfavorable market prices, access to finance, and security issues like the theft of coffee plantations.

Coffee, one of the most preferred beverages in the world, is consumed in large quantities, as about 166.63 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were consumed worldwide in 2020/2021, a slight increase from 164 million bags in the previous year, according to Statista on July 18.