Organic farming - Import export

Region and Country Markham District, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea Story The Markham River valley is a wide, sparsely populated area that encompasses a considerable amount of level agricultural land in the lower reaches. Once an area exclusively dedicated to cocoa plantations, it has also been developed for peanut cultivation and cattle farming. Markham Organic Cocoa organizes exports for smallholder cocoa and coffee farmers in the area. The producers cultivate organic cocoa by default but are not certified by an official body. There are 35 small local fermentaries to which these farmers are affiliated. By exporting through Markham Organic, farmers share directly in the profits of their sales without going through middlemen. The first overseas export ever of these farmers was purchased by Daarnhouwer and was widely covered by local media as an example of how farmers can improve their income by becoming a part of local farmer organizations.