Market Development Facility (MDF)

CBBs are spreading rapidly across coffee growing provinces, destroying coffee cherries and threatening the coffee industry. These 1.5mm black insects bore into the coffee cherry and destroy the valuable coffee bean inside. As a result, exporters are reporting lower quality and quantity of crops. CBB infestation rates in the Jiwaka, Western Highlands and Eastern Highlands Provinces are very high, causing a drastic drop in incomes for smallholder coffee farmers.

Close to 90% of coffee in Papua New Guinea is sourced from smallholder farmers and these suppliers face many challenges, including the remoteness of the farms, deteriorating road infrastructure and the increasing cost of logistics.

The biggest challenge being the lack of liquidity in the market. Coffee is a cash intensive crop, and exporters pay cash to farmers for their crop, which they cannot recoup until the coffee reaches the end buyer. This could take weeks or months.