ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book traces the origin of the coffee industry in Papua New Guinea focusing particularly on the area around Goroka in the Eastern Highlands where the arabica coffee industry began and which remains an important centre. It examines exploitation and change occurring as a result of the production and exchange of coffee as a commodity and, on the other traces the political and administrative changes engineered by the powerful in the industry to further enhance their interests. The book shows how white planters established a cartel of exporters which gave them power over exchange of coffee in the colonial industry. It explores how the coffee industry was beset by two major crises in the late colonial period and in the run-up to independence. The book examines the broad changes which took place in the transition to Independence in Papua New Guinea.
