As a coffee grower and significant employer in the Western Highlands Province, Highlands Arabicas Limited / New Guinea Traders, LLC is integrally involved in the lives of those who live in and around its managed and proprietary coffee holdings. As a result, starting in 2003 and born out of a deep desire to make life better in the highlands of PNG, a pilot project arose. Now, for every pound of coffee sold by the firm in North America, five cents (U.S.) goes towards development projects in the Waghi River Valley of PNG. The projects range from buidling tribal schools to free business education courses for highland Papua New Guineans. There are hopes that in the near future a project to maintain and/or reestablish shade trees on PNG coffee plantations could be developed and another program that endeavors to teach sustainable coffee husbandry could be pursued.
In the recent past, Highlands Arabicas Limited, together with a number of North American roasters, funded the construction of two classrooms on the traditional tribal lands of the Kinjibi tribe. This photo was taken in April 2005 and shows the school that Highlands Arabicas Limited and its customers recently built for the Kinjibi people.
The school is only the beginning. Highlands Arabicas Limited believes in grassroots development at origin and is committed to improving the economic and social backdrop of the Papua New Guinean highlands.
