Papua New Guinean (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape has announced his Cabinet, which contains not only some new faces, but some new positions as well, including a minister for coffee.
The post — believed to be a world first — shows the government’s commitment to expanding key agriculture industries, said Marape, who won re-election earlier this month after an election plagued by violence and allegations of voter fraud.
For the first time Marape also named a minister for palm oil.
“The appointments specifically spotlight agriculture in a very significant way, to see agriculture growth in the country,” he said on Tuesday when announcing the new 33-member Cabinet.
“Agriculture is where the government can have the greatest impact in terms of the population of this country, because the bulk of our people are subsistence farmers. We have land and we must encourage our people to go into agriculture production,” he said.
The coffee and palm oil ministries sit alongside the main agriculture ministry, run by Goroka lawmaker Aiye Tambua.
The minister for coffee is a new lawmaker, Joe Kuli, from Anglimp-South Waghi, in the central highlands region.
Papua New Guinea coffee has emerged as a desirable import in recent years, with cafes across Australia, the US and Japan serving coffee made with beans grown in PNG.
Marape said the coffee industry needed to be revived to bring in more export revenue.
Kuli understood the challenge, because he comes from the Wahgi Valley of Jiwaka, which was once a huge coffee plantation, but has been overgrown by bush, he said.
“Minister Kuli’s focus will be coffee, coffee and coffee. I want to drink coffee made in Goroka, Mt Hagen, Lae and other parts of the country. I want to see more coffee grown for export to the lucrative markets of the world,” he added.
Coffee production in the country is dominated by village-based small-scale farmers, who produce close to 85 percent of the country’s annual crop. It is a source of income for close to 2 million people — about one-quarter of the population — according to the Papua New Guinea Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
Coffee is the country’s second-largest agricultural commodity after palm oil, accounting for 27 percent of agricultural exports and 6 percent of the country’s GDP.
Talasea lawmaker Francis Maneke has been appointed as the new palm oil minister, responsible for the crop of trees from which palm oil can be produced.
“Oil palm is the largest agriculture commodity in PNG, contributing about 40 percent ... of PNG’s export revenue in the agriculture sector,” Marape said.
“We have so much land that is lying around idle and Minister Maneke will be tasked to use this to increase production, as well as help the existing industry to grow,” he said.
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