A sample survey of village coffee production in Benabena, Eastern Highlands Province, Nov. - Dec. 1988

A sample of 60 smallholder families producing coffee was undertaken in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Sampling procedure, questionnaire development, enumerator training and coffee garden survey techniques were evaluated for future monitoring of smallholder producers. Electoral rolls were used as sampling frames but proved incomplete and inaccurate. Problems in selection, definition and identification of sampling units within traditional highlands society are described. A total of 151 gardens were measured and characterised. Average family coffee holdings were calculated and differentiation within the smallholder sample analysed. Smallholder management practices and the extent of adoption of new technologies were determined. The impact of rust (Hemileia vastatrix) and a national extension service to smallholder coffee producers was evaluated. Smallholder families in the region of study were characterised in terms of production and processing technology, ownership of equipment, garden size and division of labour between coffee and subsistence production