Western Highlands and Jiwaka

Western Highlands, with Jiwaka, which was carved out of it in 2012, has long been Papua New Guinea’s biggest coffee country. Around Mount Hagen and along the broad Wahgi Valley, smallholders grow washed arabica on rich black soils. Its coffee is known for sweetness, nuttiness and a soft balance.

The short version

• Historically the largest coffee province: about 42–46% of national output.
• Most people live at 1,400–2,200 metres, in five valley systems.
• Sweet, nutty and chocolatey, with fruit and citrus.
• Jiwaka became a separate province in 2012.
• Dry season May to October.
• The coffee berry borer was first detected at Banz, in Jiwaka.

What does Western Highlands coffee taste like?

Sweet, nutty and soft. The Coffee Industry Corporation’s province profile lists sweet, nutty, toffee, spicy, cocoa, chocolate and caramel aromas, and a cup that is sweet and fruity, citrus, juicy and clean, with tropical fruit, a tea-like mouthfeel, good body and a soft, smooth balance. Coffee Review names Western Highlands, including Mount Hagen and the Waghi Valley, as one of the four core provinces of PNG coffee. Jiwaka’s grower groups place well in national contests: in 2016 Kosem South Waghi tied for fourth with 84.18 points and Kosem North Waghi came sixth with 83.98, and in 2015 Kubor-Kosem of Jiwaka took fifth place, The National reported.

Coffee Review’s blind assessments of Wahgi Valley coffees:

Year	Coffee	Score	Notes
2014	Wahgi Valley	90	Grapefruit, dark chocolate, molasses, vanilla, pink peppercorn
2015	Ulya, Wahgi Valley	93	Pear, raisin, dark chocolate, almond, wisteria; round, juicy acidity
2023	Jiwaka Arufa, natural, Wahgi Valley	92	Dried cranberry, freesia, bay leaf, almond, baking chocolate

Source: Coffee Review.

Where and how it grows

The province ranges from about 600 metres in the lower Jimi to more than 4,000 in the mountains, but most people live at 1,400 to 2,200 metres, CIC says. It has five main interlocking valley systems: the Wahgi, the Kaugel and Nebilyer, Mul and Baiyer, and the Jimi. The soils are mostly black clay loam, and rainfall runs from 2,200 to 4,000 mm a year, with a dry season from May to October and the heaviest rain from December to February. Coffee is the main cash crop, followed by tea and cardamom, but low prices and high input costs have led some farmers to replace coffee with vegetables to sell to the LNG project and mining sites.

How much coffee does it grow?

Measure	Figure	Source
Share of national output	About 42–46% (before Jiwaka was split off)	CIC province profile
Share of national output	45%	UNCTAD, via Wikipedia
Rank	First (CIC profile); second to Eastern Highlands (ACIAR, 2024, citing CIC data)

Jiwaka is now counted separately: CIC lists Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands, Jiwaka, Morobe and Simbu as the five provinces that grow over 90% of PNG’s coffee. No current figure for each province is published.

Pests and pressures

The coffee berry borer, one of the world’s most damaging coffee pests, was first detected in Papua New Guinea at Banz, in Jiwaka; the agriculture ministry warned that up to 80% of production could be lost, though industry experts thought that too high, Oxford Business Group reported. CIC’s partnership projects have since helped Jiwaka grower groups improve processing with hand pulpers and raised drying beds: five of the 17 project groups that reached the 2018 national round came from Jiwaka.

Western Highlands and other PNG origins

• Coffee in Papua New Guinea: the whole country, its exports and its history.
• Eastern Highlands: Goroka, Kainantu and the national champions.
• Simbu: the neighbouring province to the east.