DILI, 20 august 2023 (TATOLI) – The UNDP has been supporting the Lakufoan Coffee Cooperative in Pante-Macassar, Oé-Cusse, since 2018 to produce quality coffee.
“The collaboration with UNDP began in 2018 and they helped us to produce quality coffee, conducted training on different topics and finally we have transformed the group into a Cooperative’’ said Marcelino Neno, the Representative of the Lakufoan Coffee Cooperative at the Youth Entrepreneurship EXPO 2023, at Timor Plaza, in Dili.
Neno said that the coffee farmers in Lakufoan have been growing coffee since 2006: “However, these farmers still have difficulties with coffee processing to produce high-quality coffee beans. Therefore, working together with the UNDP is important to train coffee farmers to produce a high-quality product.
According to UNDP, members of the Lakufoan Coffee Cooperative have planted more than 40,000 coffee plants.
The UNDP supported the Lakufoan Coffee Cooperative in renovating its building and equipping it with a drying facility, a nursery, and processing facilities. The support helped the cooperative to improve coffee processing and product packaging.
The Lakufoan’s processed coffee can be found in the market and it is packed and sold at a price that the local communities can afford to reduce coffee imports. The Lakufoan Coffee is currently sold throughout Oe-Cusse, with a 250-gram bag at US$1.75 and a 500-gram bag at US$3.50.
The Lakufoan Coffee Cooperative has 36 local farmer groups, and 36 work teams.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Filomeno Martins
