The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rangamati

Processed coffee produced in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) will be available in the local markets within a very short time.

"We are expecting to start marketing of 50 gram bottle coffee within a month if official formalities with the BSTI and other government organizations are okayed," Naim Mahmood, Managing Director (MD) of Mac Foundation told BSS recently.

Mac Foundation is responsible to collect raw coffee from the farmers at Chittagong Hill Tracts and distribute in the market after proper processing.

Coffee is being cultivated in the CHT under Orange and Mixed Fruit Project.

The CHTDB has been implementing the Orange and Mixed Fruit Project since 1999 with a view to alleviate poverty of people living in the hilly region.

Mac Foundation has come forward for processing coffee seeds and marketing those following a report published in different newspapers on coffee cultivation in the CHT, Md. Shafiqul Islam, Project Director of Orange and Mixed Fruit project said.

A total of 400 coffee orchards have been raised in three hill districts since the project was launched. Nearly 100 farmers are now producing coffee and farmers are very happy about their achievement, the project director said.