For over a century, cocoa has been a huge part of Bougainville, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Before the civil conflict that stretched from 1988 to 1998, Bougainville was the largest cocoa producing region in PNG, and cocoa plantations dotted much of the landscape. This year, with support from Australia and New Zealand, Bougainville has regained the crown as the leading cocoa producer in PNG, producing nearly 17,000 tons of cocoa a year, almost as much as the 18,000 tons before the Bougainville crisis. Bougainville cocoa won a Gold Standard award at the International Cocoa of Excellence Award in Rome. And the Bougainville Chocolate Festival, held in September every year, continues to grow, bringing together farmers, traders, exporters, industry regulators and chocolate lovers.
Funded by the Australian and New Zealand governments and implemented by Abt, the Bougainville Partnership together with the Department of Primary Industries and Marine Resources of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, has been supporting the cocoa industry in Bougainville since 2016. The Bougainville Partnership established the Commodity Support Facility to support a broad range of supply-chain activities, from seedling to export assistance and everything in between. It supports cocoa production by village-based farming families, encouraging industry-wide participation of women and youth. It initiates research and development and develops a strong regulatory environment with technical facilities to boost quality and production. And it provides promotional support through the Bougainville Chocolate Festival to bring the quality of Bougainville cocoa to the attention of the global industry. The partnership with the Bougainville people is generating meaningful change for farmers and communities.
A Family Business. Many of those involved in the growth of cocoa have life-long connections to the crop. When Geraldine Paul was growing up, her father owned a 12-hectare farm where he grew cocoa. The enterprise was very much a family business.
“In primary school, my father put me in charge of the fermenting and drying of our cocoa,” said Geraldine. From that beginning, Geraldine worked her way up through the system in both private enterprise and the public sector. Now, she is the Minister for Primary Industries and Marine Resources in the ABG. Cocoa is still close to her heart, and she is particularly focused on the people side of the industry.
“The missing thing was always the investment in human beings. This is why I was so supportive of the Commodity Support Facility. It did not concentrate on increasing the number of farmers. It was an investment about quality, and quantity—supporting the households and investing in the families,” she said.
Quality Improvement. Dr. James Butubu can remember in the 1970s and 1980s, when, as a kid growing up in Buin, he saw the small-holder farmers start to overtake the large plantations. His career as a compliance officer and in cocoa research and development, has culminated in his current role as the Chief Compliance Officer under the Bougainville Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (BACRA). He oversees the BACRA lab, a recently opened facility which the Bougainville Partnership funded, and which is vital to the future of the industry.
“The buyers of our cocoa need to know the level of flavour and quality parameters, and to some extent the nutrient content of our beans,” he said. “Farmers can supply beans for the lab to test and get reports on the flavour and bean quality. They can adjust a bit or maintain what they are doing in terms of quality improvement.”
They Rely on Cocoa for their Livelihood. One of the farmers who took advantage of the testing at the BACRA lab was the winner of the top prize, a Silver Medal, at the 2023 Bougainville Chocolate Festival. Mr. Lucas Bierepi from Kereaka in Kunua in North Bougainville had his cocoa tested several times at the BACRA lab to produce the highest quality product. He won a cocoa dryer and a fermenting unit. “I am very happy and could not ask for a better prize than this—this is every cocoa farmer’s dream,” said Mr Bierepi.
He had been using a fermenter from a neighboring farm. He said he was not able to get the most out of this arrangement. “With the new dryer and fermenting unit, I will be able to do the fermenting process for my cocoa beans the way I want and produce the results I want for my beans.” Steven Tangepara from the Mudemeio Cooperative Society in Bana, said he has seen the cocoa farming in his region improve considerably, thanks to the development of the industry. “Families are continuing to sustain their livelihood as well as managing their local businesses,” he said.
Indeed, as the Secretary of the Department of Primary Industries and Marine Resources, Mr Kenneth Dovaro, pointed out, most people in Bougainville depend on cocoa. “They rely on cocoa for their livelihood, and a lot of business houses and entrepreneurs exist because of cocoa,” he said.
From Small-Holder Farms to the International Market. The development of the smallholder farms is recognized as a key factor by one of the biggest cocoa buyers in Bougainville. Salome Rihatta, Bougainville Manager for Agmark, a diversified agribusiness and largest buyer and exporter of Bougainvillean cocoa, said the donor support for farmers has unlocked the potential of the industry. “The success of the growth in the cocoa industry in Bougainville can be largely attributed to donor funded projects. They have improved the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers in Bougainville by improving the performance and sustainability of value chains in cocoa producing areas,” she said.
The final piece of the puzzle is ensuring there is an international market. Li Peng Monroe from Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates in Canberra has been using Bougainville cocoa since she first tasted it at the 2016 Chocolate Festival. Since then, she has exclusively used Bougainville cocoa and, while there is room for improvement, she cannot see that changing. “I will continue to use Bougainville cocoa beans. All our chocolates are made from Bougainville cocoa, and we believe that will continue, and we believe that Bougainville has a good future in the cocoa beans in Australia,” she said.