Papua New Guinea Agriculture

Prime Minister James Marape is intent on putting agriculture, forestry and fisheries at the forefront of the government’s development agenda, with an eye to boost downstream processing of farmed resources. As attempts to galvanise the sector spur the development of Papua New Guinea’s key crops and catches, reforms are under way to ensure the country maximises the potential of...

Global food demand is expected to increase by anywhere between 59% to 98% by 2050. However, global freshwater resources are already overstretched due to climate change and soaring population growth, and it is unclear how agricultural production will keep up with these challenges. In recent years climate-induced water shortages in urban areas have brought water scarcity to the...

Papua New Guinea’s efforts to establish special economic zones (SEZs) began in 2000 with the passing of the Free Trade Zones Act. However, PNG has yet to develop its first SEZ due to conflicts between the central and provincial governments, resulting in policy inconsistency and land disputes. For example, in February 2018 Allan Bird, governor of East Sepik Province, issued a...

In 2017 the government of Papua New Guinea introduced a series of policies to promote domestic downstream processing in the fisheries and timber segments, and self-sufficiency in food production. However, these measures have been met with criticism from some sector players, who claim that not enough has been done to boost output and self-sufficiency may not work for every...

Forestry is not only about forest production. It involves finding a balance between economic opportunity and conservation that ensures future generations will also benefit from the land and forests. PNG has a forest cover of about 78%, and while that seems high, it should be somewhere between 80% and 90%. One of our advantages is that we are able to learn from other regions....