Agriculture & Fisheries
From The Report: Papua New Guinea 2017
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With a seemingly endless supply of fertile land, the agriculture sector in Papua New Guinea has enormous potential to strengthen the economy and increase the prosperity of local farmers. While a number of challenges stand in the way of these opportunities, PNG’s organic and fair trade credentials are gradually opening high-value niche markets and bolstering export figures. As such, the advancement of crop production is a major priority for the government. As the largest employment sector and the third-largest export revenue generator, agriculture is widely recognised as the country’s best means of diversifying its basket of goods and easing reliance on extractive industries.

This chapter contains interviews with Ilan Weiss, Chairman, Innovative Agro Industry and Sir Brown Bai, Director, New Britain Palm Oil.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Effective restructuring: Government policies and programmes work to strengthen the sector and increase production capacity
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With a seemingly endless supply of fertile land, the agriculture sector in Papua New Guinea has enormous potential to strengthen the economy and deepen the pockets of local farmers. While a number of challenges stand in the way of these opportunities, PNG’s organic and fair trade credentials are gradually opening high-value niche markets and bolstering export figures. As such, the advancement of crop production is a major priority for the government. As the largest employment sector and…

Analysis

Catch of the day: Infrastructure investments to balance changing trade deals
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Bold plans to transform Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) fishing industry into the largest tuna processing and canning hub in the region ahead of Thailand and the Philippines are beginning to gain momentum. Considered a key economic segment, tuna exports have long been a significant provider of foreign exchange income to PNG’s economy. In recent years the fisheries industry has shown robust growth while overcoming structural shortfalls that threatened to derail its impressive progress, none…

Interview

The name of the game: Ilan Weiss, Chairman, Innovative Agro Industry, on creative short-term solutions to enhance the agricultural supply chain
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Interview: Ilan Weiss What issues need to be addressed to enable growth in the domestic agriculture sector? LLAN WEISS: For thousands of years the people of Papua New Guinea have been living off the land, so in a country like this, it is easier to tap into natural agricultural skills. In contrast to the great potential present in PNG for developing agriculture, there are also many challenges that exist. First and foremost is logistics. Other challenges include financing, lack of a commercial skillset,…

Analysis

Time for restoration: Building a resilient coffee industry is a key priority
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With an eye on high-value niche markets, the policymakers of Papua New Guinea are determined to rehabilitate the domestic coffee industry, while also capitalising on growing international demand. In order to realise these goals, numerous issues will need to be addressed. In addition to unstable commodity prices, a combination of short- and long-term factors are threatening to put PNG’s coffee production at risk, particularly the emergence of a pest infestation that has the potential to…

Interview

Bridging the gaps: Sir Brown Bai, Director, New Britain Palm Oil, on streamlining agriculture in a sustainable way
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Interview: Brown Bai What criteria need to be taken into account to create a more profitable and sustainable palm oil industry in Papua New Guinea? BROWN BAI: Players in the palm oil sector have a lot of international exposure. They are all certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, and sustainability principals are independently audited every year. In addition, the environmental laws are very stringent in PNG and we have to adhere to them very closely. This gives us a competitive advantage…

Analysis

Sunny prospects: Integration of new technology modernises the industry
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Papua New Guinea has a long history in agriculture, with archaeologists dating its origins in the country to approximately 7000 years ago. It is thought that tribes in the Wahgi Valley in PNG were among the first to grow and harvest some of the staple food crops that are valued today, such as sugar cane and banana. People in PNG still employ traditional farming techniques, although these methods are now used alongside more modern practices, in order to improve the revenue streams from agricultural…