Villagers
along the Kikori delta in the Gulf province can now practice modern agriculture
for food security and income, thanks to Oil Search Limited and the PNG Women in
Agriculture Development Foundation (PNGWiADF).
The
sole dependence on sago and fish for survival by the Kikori River
people will be a thing of the past as they take up new skills and innovations in
vegetable production.
They
can now farm round cabbage, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, carrot, spring onion,
lettuce, pakchoi, watermelon and tomato.
With
support from Oil Search’s community affairs division based in the Gobe oil fields,
model farmer and agricultural trainer, Maria Linibi of PNGWiADF, has provided
training for 26 villagers since last month.
The
participants are from seven villages – Kaiam, Banana camp, Irimuku, Babeio, Veiru,
Kekea and Ero – along the Kikori
River .
In July, the participants acquired skills in
nursery preparation of different tropical vegetables and last week, Linibi
taught them again on how to prepare land and transplant seedlings.
The training was conducted at Irimuku village
with a demonstration farm established at the run-down Kitomape SDA school
grounds.
The
initiative was undertaken as part of agriculture development under Oil Search’s
sustainable development programme in communities along affected areas of the
oil development project in the Southern Highlands
and Gulf provinces.
The
vigorous performances of the crops were an eye opener for the participants as
they could not believe their soil could produce temperate highlands vegetables
such as broccoli, cabbage, carrot and others.
During
the training, Linibi introduced crops to the villagers, emphasised crops’
nutritional and monetary values, and demonstrated farming skills through a
participatory approach which many appreciated.
Tommy
Polang, Oil Search’s community development officer who was responsible for
organising the training, told the aspiring vegetable farmers to take full
advantage of the opportunity and utilise what they had learnt from the training
in their own villages.
“You
can cultivate vegetables and other food crops on your land, just like any PNG farmer,”
Polang told participants.
He
challenged them to take full responsibility in taking ownership and ensuring self-sustainability
after the pilot phase.
He
added that with the new developments in oil and gas projects, they would be
faced with opportunities in spin-off benefits.
This
is especially in terms of finding markets for their produce - which they should
capture to support their livelihoods.
Polang
called on the participants to be role models and pass on the skills to others
in their respective villages, and most importantly, to work in groups and help
one another.
Linibi said the exercise was just a start in a
small way but they could apply the principles in bigger ways, given their
capacities.
Kikori
villagers have hands-on training in transplanting broccoli seedlings with
trainer and PNGWiADF president Maria Linibi (centre) at Kitomape near Kikori station
in the Gulf province
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She advised that they should initiate and
start something for themselves before calling for assistance.
She
also urged the participants to work in groups and form cooperatives and capture
opportunities outside of the project areas.
Many
of the participants showed appreciation and expressed that the training would
change their livelihoods.
Dorothy
Foroua, a woman leader from Irimuku, said their food resources were fish, sago
and leaves from the bush but with the training gave them new alternatives.
Oil
Search provided vegetable seeds and tools.
The
vegetable training has three components, two of which (nursery and
transplanting), have been successfully completed.
The third phase is post-harvest which is
expected to be done in November when the vegetables are ready for harvest.
During
the first phase, Linibi demonstrated a technology on plant-derived pesticides
which farmers can develop and use from locally available resources such as neem
tree, derris (posin diwai) and chili.
In
the second phase, she supplied seeds of upland rice varieties, corn and mung
beans provided by NARI and seeds of neem tree for formulating home-made
pesticides.
Other
initiatives under Oil Search Gobe’s sustainability programme include
rehabilitation of old coffee blocks and establishment of coffee nursery with
some 6,000 seedlings in Erave, Southern Highlands ,
with the involvement of Coffee Industry Corporation.
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