Commercial coffee in Papua New Guinea dates to the late 1920s. It grew fast in the highlands from the 1950s.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, European plantation owners helped the colonial administration teach villagers to grow coffee and gave them mills and buyers. When plantations faded before independence in 1975, that support ended, and quality and yields fell.
Today smallholders on plots of up to two hectares grow over 85 percent of the crop. More than 2.5 million people rely on coffee for income.
Field notes
What the record says
- Commercial coffee production in Papua New Guinea dates to 1926 to 1927.1
- Village smallholders on plots of up to two hectares produce over 85 percent of the crop.1,2
- Coffee is an important income source for more than 2.5 million Papua New Guineans.2
- From the 1950s to the 1970s, European plantation owners worked with the colonial administration to teach local farmers and set up mills and buyer networks.2
- After plantations and rural mills declined before independence in 1975, support services and quality incentives ended.2
- Top grades A and AA fell from about 15 percent of production in the mid-1970s to about 5 percent.2
- Coffee rust reached previously unaffected areas from 1986.1
What we couldn't confirm
The ANU MacWilliam paper could not be decoded. Claims of Jamaican Blue Mountain seed origin and an 1890 introduction came from importer sites or second-hand and are not stated.
Sources
- Coffee production in Papua New Guinea · Wikipedia in the bibliography
- Reviving the coffee industry in Papua New Guinea · Curtin University, 2020 in the bibliography
