Smallholder coffee farmers in Lufa, Eastern Highlands Province have earned about K268,500 from the 2026 group marketing season, with participating farmers receiving an equivalent parchment price of K18.20 per kilogram, compared with the prevailing roadside price of about K14.50.
The result represents an additional return of about K3.70 per kilogram of parchment, or roughly 25 per cent more than the roadside price, through the Lufa Oliguti Farmers’ Cooperative Society Ltd (LOFCS).
The cooperative has completed its 2026 coffee marketing season, marking its sixth year of operation and its continued efforts to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Lufa District.
LOFCS was founded in 2020 by a group of young people to create practical pathways for rural farmers to access better markets, financial institutions, government services, development partners and other support.
Under founding chairman Michael David Yanepa, the cooperative has focused on helping farmers improve their incomes, strengthen their livelihoods and gain greater recognition as contributors to the local and national economy.
Since its establishment, LOFCS has connected farmers to better coffee marketing opportunities through group marketing, allowing them to collectively negotiate and access prices generally better than roadside prices.
The cooperative has also facilitated training in financial literacy, health and nutrition, coffee agronomy, farm management and other life skills.
Through the World Bank-supported Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (PACD), LOFCS strengthened its farmer organization and infrastructure, including the construction of a 17-metre by 25-metre storage facility.
The cooperative intends to progressively develop the facility into a coffee milling operation as its financial capacity grows.
LOFCS has also worked with the Eastern Highlands Provincial NID Office to bring government services closer to rural communities.
What began as a service for cooperative farmers was expanded into a wider community initiative, contributing to the registration of more than 20,000 farmers across Lufa District.
The cooperative has partnered with Bank South Pacific (BSP) to help farmers enter the formal financial system, with more than 200 farmers opening bank accounts.
LOFCS is also working towards becoming a BSP rural banking agent so farmers can access basic banking services closer to their communities.
Mr. Yanepa said the cooperative was looking forward to working closely with the newly established National Coffee Authority (NCA) to strengthen support for coffee farmers and the industry.
“Our farmers are the owners and producers of the coffee crop. They must be recognized, supported and given the opportunity to receive a fair return from their work,” he said.
During the 2026 season, LOFCS mobilized about 250 bags of coffee parchment from farmers for group marketing.
The cooperative placed strong emphasis on quality, requiring farmers to harvest only ripe red cherries, pulp them on the same day, wash them with clean water after appropriate fermentation and dry the coffee properly on raised beds, under shade or using solar dryers.
Quality checks were also carried out throughout the collection and processing stages to ensure only suitable coffee was prepared for milling and marketing.
The coffee produced about 10,740 kilograms of green bean, representing an overall recovery rate of about 82 per cent, while only about 37 kilograms was classified as damaged or waste coffee.
The final coffee was assessed by an NCA Q Grader and achieved a cup score of 83.5, placing it within the specialty-quality range.
LOFCS sold the coffee lot to an exporter in Goroka at K25 per kilogram of green bean, generating total sales of about K268,500.
The 2026 result builds on the cooperative’s longer-term group marketing record, with more than K700,000 in cumulative coffee earnings distributed directly to participating farmers over the past five years.
Mr. Yanepa thanked farmers for their commitment to improving coffee quality, saying the results demonstrated the potential to develop a recognizable Lufa coffee identity based on quality, responsible production and the unique characteristics of coffee grown by smallholder farmers.
He said LOFCS’s work went beyond coffee and demonstrated what rural communities could achieve when farmers had access to appropriate services, markets, knowledge and leadership.
“Our farmers have been working hard for generations, but many have remained economically marginalized because they have not had adequate access to markets, services, infrastructure and opportunities,” Mr. Yanepa said in a statement.
“Our commitment is to help change that. We want farmers to move from simply producing coffee to becoming successful agricultural business owners.”
LOFCS will continue working with farmers, government agencies, financial institutions, development partners and private-sector stakeholders to expand economic opportunities in Lufa.
Its immediate priorities include improving coffee production and quality, expanding group marketing, developing processing capacity, increasing access to financial services and building stronger markets for Lufa’s agricultural products.
“We started with very little, but we have demonstrated what rural farmers can achieve when they work together.”
“Our responsibility now is to build on that foundation and create greater opportunities for the next generation of farmers and rural families,” Mr. Yanepa said.