KPKM INJECTS RM3.37 MLN FOR MORE DOWNSTREAM VALUE IN SABAH COFFEE ZONE

NABAWAN, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- Major downstream coffee products are brewing in the districts of Nabawan and Sook, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM), through the Department of Agriculture, allocating RM3.37 million to boost earnings for coffee plant operators.

The sum includes RM2.24 million for the construction of Coffee House and Café Coffeelive to train home talent and modernise cultivation practices at the Sepulut Agricultural Station and RM1.13 million for upgrading the coffee collection centre in this district.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said the project was carried out through the Food Security Strengthening Programme to optimise land use in collaboration with the state government, which is a KPKM quick-win initiative that is expected to be completed by February 2025.

He is confident that the project will have an impact in helping coffee plant operators to increase their income to improve socio-economics, job opportunities for the youth to create more value with downstream coffee products with a quality to satisfy the certification standards set for domestic and foreign markets.

"KPKM hopes that aspects of the management and operation of the Coffee House and Café Coffeelive should be implemented in an orderly manner and emphasise on cleanliness and environmentally friendly practices," he said here today after completing a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Coffee House and Café Coffeelive here.

Arthur, who is also Pensiangan MP, said that based on statistical data released by the Sabah Agriculture Department, coffee production as of 2022 was still low with self-sufficiency at only 35 per cent.

He said the data was based on the cultivated area which currently stood at 1,434.2 hectares, while the cultivated area was 936.1 hectares and the production was only 936.1 tonnes (annually).

For coffee production in the Nabawan and Sook districts, the cultivated area so far is 341.6 hectares with a production of 248 tonnes per year representing a modest 26.5 per cent of Sabah's state coffee production.

Arthur said KPKM through the Department of Agriculture which developed the coffee industry with an allocation of RM4.5 million and a target area of ​​300 hectares beginning from the 11th Malaysia Plan (RMK11), will be continued in the RMK12.

-- BERNAMA