25 May 2010—In May 2010, the World Bank Board of Directors approved a $US25 million IDA Credit to support the Papua New Guinea Government’s efforts to improve rural incomes and livelihoods in key coffee and cocoa producing areas.
The credit will fund the Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (PPAP) which aims to increase the contribution of coffee and cocoa to the livelihoods of rural communities and improve the performance and sustainability of the coffee and cocoa industries. The project will ensure local roads are upgraded to improve market access for communities in the project areas.
Agriculture accounts for approximately a third of gross domestic product in Papua New Guinea. The sector is dominated by smallholder farming systems such as coffee and cocoa, with over thirty percent (coffee) and twenty percent (cocoa) of the total national labor force in the country involved in the production, processing and sale of these crops.
The PPAP aims to undertake a number of measures to support smallholder coffee and cocoa farmers, including: strengthening links between smallholder farmers and agricultural businesses; increasing access to farming technologies and services; improving coordination of agricultural institutions; providing critical infrastructure for market access; and enabling the introduction of efficient and sustainable farming techniques which will lead to increased smallholder income.
The project, which will be officially launched later in the year, will focus on areas dependent on coffee and cocoa productions such as East New Britain Province, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Eastern Highlands Province, Western Highlands Province, Jiwaka Province and Simbu Province, with possible expansion to other areas subject to review.
The six-year PPAP project will be implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock; the Coffee Industry Corporation; and the Cocoa Board.
The project is a product of extensive consultations with community representatives, local level government, grower associations and cooperatives, youth and women’s groups, extension workers, the private sector, and other key stake-holders.
