World Bank-funded coffee project to be launched in Goroka

By MALUM NALU
The coffee segment of the Productive Partnership in Agriculture Project (PPAP) will be launched next Tuesday at the Mark Solon Auditorium of the University of Goroka.

A smallholder coffee growers’ field training in Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands province.Improving the livelihood of smallholder growers is one of the objectives of the PPAP.-Picture by MALUM NALU

PPAP is a joint World Bank and International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) - financed project covering both the cocoa and coffee sub-sectors.
The project commenced in January.
Project mobilisation was expected to be completed in last month, with the launching next Tuesday.
The development objective of the PPAP is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa and coffee producers through the improvement of the performance and sustainability of value chains in the cocoa and coffee-growing areas.
This will be achieved through strengthening industry coordination and institutions, facilitating linkages between smallholder farmers and agri-business for the provision of technologies and services, and through the provision of critical market access infrastructure.
The project will be launched by Finance and Treasury Minister Peter O’ Neill and witnessed by provincial and district administration staff and political heads from Western Highlands, Chimbu and Western Highlands provinces.
There will also be representation from coffee exporters, processors, plantations and the all-important smallholder growers.
Guests will include Eastern Highlands Governor Malcolm Kela Smith, Department of Agriculture and Livestock deputy secretary and PPAP project preparation team leader Francis Daink, as well as CIC board chairman and Eastern Highlands small growers’ chairman James Korarome, Western Highlands small growers’ chairman Peter Kewa, PNG blockholders’ chairman Pugma Kopi and Jiwaka small growers’ chairman James Koimo.

Pyrethrum has lots of potential for Papua New Guinea

By MALUM NALU

Daisy-like pyrethrum flower at the experimental paddock at Tambul, Western Highlands.Pictures by MALUM NALU

Pyrethrum is not a high-profile cash crop such as coffee; however, it is a potential money-spinner for 880,000 people dwelling in high altitude areas where coffee cannot grow.
Potential pyrethrum-growing areas include Laiagam, Kandep, Wabag and Wapenamanda areas of Enga province; Tambul of Western Highlands; Ialibu and Upper Mendi areas of Southern Highlands; Kerowagi, Gumine and Gembogl areas of Chimbu; and Okapa, Henganofi and Lufa areas of Eastern Highlands.
Pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariaefolium) is a daisy-like plant which is cultivated for the production of pyrethrins and insecticides (insect poison).
It has six active chemicals which do not harm people or animals and rapidly degrades in the environment (no residue problems), and has low risk of insect resistance
Currently, according to pyrethrum scientists Kud Sitango and Enopa Lindsay of the National Agriculture Research Institute, 90% of the pyrethrum is grown in Enga Province, with production having ceased in other pyrethrum-growing areas

NARI’s ‘Team Pyrethrum’ (from left) team leader Kud Sitango, field assistant Danny Momo, scientist Enopa Lindsay and field assistant Kennufa Moui at the project signboard in Tambul, Western Highlands.

People, however, can make money by growing pyrethrum, with current production estimated at 50-60 tonnes per year and generating income valued at about K150, 000 annually.
Most of this is from Laigam in Enga.
Sitango and Lindsay say pyrethrum is suitable a farm crop because:

• In PNG it is non-seasonal, all year-around crop;

• There are always flowers to harvest and sell;

• It can be stored;

• It can always be sold even though the price is not high;

• It can be grown in small plots or around the base of the kaukau (sweet potato) mound;

• It can be worked by hand labor alone and requires little capital,

• It is easy to grow because planting materials are readily available and easily obtained; and

• It is currently regarded as the “women and children’s crop” in Enga Province.

A four-year Australian Centre for Integrated Agriculture Research (ACIAR) pyrethrum project started in January 2007 and ended in December 2010, however, according to Sitango and Lindsay, “most of the planned activities were implemented partially completed due to lack of appropriate knowledge and supervision”.
“Pyrethrum was introduced into PNG on trial basis in the late 1950s and it became a good attractive cash crop for the highlands (above2, 000 metres),” they said in their ACIAR report.

Dried pyrethrum flowers.

“From the 1960s to the late 1980s, the pyrethrum industry played a major role in sustaining the livelihood of some 65-85,000 people in the highland areas.
“Local women, children and old people were the key workers in this industry and these important social groupings were the key beneficiaries from this industry.
“In 1995, the pyrethrum extraction factory that purchased the crop from the growers closed down and this resulted in a lot of primarily subsistence farmers losing their major source of cash income.
“In 2000-2001, the Enga provincial government purchased this extraction factory and spent some $A1.2 million to re-commission this factory.
“Pre-1995, all of the pyrethrum crude extract, called oleoresin, produced in PNG was sold to an American company.
“This marketing arrangement ceased when the factory closed in 1995 and the PNG industry has not been able to re-establish a market for their pyrethrum extract products.

Pyrethrum seeds.

“There are two main reasons for this failure to gain a marketing position: Pyrethrum is an insecticide and producers are required to have access to the full toxicology, ecotoxicology and use pattern Data Package before their products can obtain access into the vast majority of world markets.
“Unfortunately, the PNG industry does not have access to this data and the costs of obtaining this Data Package are in the order of $A3-4 million.
“The pyrethrum oleoresin produced by the PNG industry requires an additional refining process before it can be used by the product formulators and there are only three major pyrethrum refineries in the world.
“Botanical Resources Australia–Agricultural Services Pty Ltd (BRA) developed a business arrangement with the Enga Government in late October 2005 to buy pyrethrum.
“BRA is one of the two largest pyrethrum producers in the world producing 40% of the world usage of pyrethrum products.
“BRA has a modern and technologically-advanced production and manufacturing facility in Tasmania and a strong production base in Tasmania.
“BRA is also a share owner of a comprehensive Data Package on pyrethrum, including detailed information on toxicology, enviro-toxicology, residue, efficacy and risk analysis for a wide range of situations.
“BRA has used this data to support the registration of pyrethrum in all of the major markets, including the USA, Europe, Japan, Korea as well as Australia.
“Without access to this data package or a similar data package, a pyrethrum producer will not be able to register their product in these major world markets.
“The PNG industry is still recovering from the joint shock of the factory closure and the subsequent withdrawal of the key US pyrethrum buyer.”

Team leader Kud Sitango, field assistant Danny Momo, scientist Enopa Lindsay and field assistant Kennufa Moui around a pyrethrum flower in Tambul

All is not lost, however, thanks to NARI and the Enga provincial government.
Enga provincial government’s objective on pyrethrum is to alleviate poverty and improve cash income in the province, promoting it as cash crop
NARI’s objective on pyrethrum is an emerging crop and potential cash crop for high altitude to improve cash income problem faced by 880, 000 people, (15% of total 5.5million PNG population).
NARI, and the unwavering support of the Enga provincial government – through its Enga Pyrethrum Company, which runs the Kagamuga pyrethrum extraction factory in Mt Hagen – and of course a small band of dedicated farmers has seen pyrethrum continue to thrive.

K110 million for roads okayed by cabinet

PROVINCIAL and rural roads in 10 provinces will be given US$43 million (K110 million) over the next five years for phase two of the roads maintenance and rehabilitation project (RMRP II), The National reports.
Cabinet approved the World Bank’s proposed credit financing yesterday and agreed to pump in US$10 million (K26 million) as counterpart funding.
Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal said this would be appropriated in the national budget over a five-year period beginning next year.
He said NEC recently endorsed an equivalent of special drawing rights (SDR) US$27.4 million from the World Bank’s international development association (IDA) to pay for the road project.
Provinces included under the RMRP were East and West New Britian, Manus, Northern, Morobe, Gulf, Central, Madang, Milne Bay and Western.
“The RMRP will focus on national and district roads and is set to start in the latter part of 2011 and will continue until 2016.
“The World Bank’s involvement in the roads sector is to continue its support of the national transport strategy,” Abal said.
He said this strategy would concentrate on limited resources and investment in the areas of greatest economic potential, thereby maximising the opportunities for development and growth, both nationally and regionally.
Abal, who is also works minister, said the government had recognised the importance of adequate transport infrastructure and had reflected this in its development blueprints – Vision 2050, PNG development strategic plan 2010-30 and the medium-term development plan 2011-15.

Gulf administrator on K131,000 misappropriation charge

By JUNIOR UKAHA
ACTING Gulf provincial administrator Simon Peter has been charged with misappropriating more than K131,000 from the provincial account, The National reports.
Peter, 42, from Passam village in Wewak, East Sepik, was arrested by NCD police yesterday in Port Moresby.
He is understood to have been detained at the Boroko police cells awaiting his court appearance this week.
According to police briefs, Peter was alleged to have authorised payments to Gulf Governor Havila Kavo the money for personal emoluments from resources memorandum of agreement (MoA) funds in the provincial accounts between January and February last year.
The purpose of the payments to Kavo was not disclosed by police but investigators asserted that it was illegal for the provincial administrator to draw money from the province’s account to pay the politician when he (governor) was already on a parliamentary payroll.
It was understood that the Gulf provincial administration was operating on an ad hoc basis out of Port Moresby since last year.
NCD metropolitan commander Supt Joseph Tondop confirmed the arrest and said that it was unfortunate that people vested with trust and authority should betray their position and do selfish acts.
“Police have been working on the case and the arrest is a result of their investigations,” Tondop said.
He said he was not certain whether the provincial administrator and his team were operating in Port Moresby or in Kerema but said the suspect was apprehended by police in NCD.
Attempts by The National to get comments from Kavo were unsuccessful.

Paoua New Guinea enjoys fifth year of economic stability

THIS year will be the fifth year that Papua New Guinea will enjoy economic stability, Bank of PNG Governor Loi Bakani said, The National reports. He said this on Tuesday when presenting a paper on PNG economic update at the PNG Indigenous Business Summit and Trade Expo at Kokopo, East New Britain.
He said the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) from 2007 to this year was 7.6%.
He said this was an increase of 31% – from K1,348 per person in 2007 to K1,760 per person this year – and was a major improvement on the economic conditions of economy and average per capita income in PNG.
“This trend is projected to continue for the next two years or so during the construction of the liquefied natural gas project.”
“When we come to the production and exportation of the LNG project, this is projected to go on further.”
He said to give a background of improvement in economy in the last few years, we had to depend on the external sector which was the global economy.
“PNG has the opportunity of having a stable government in the last few years and that was our problem in the past as unstable governments created a lot of uncertainty in terms of having inconsistent policies.”
“Stable government has been one of those prominent components in stability and is reflected in our economy.”
Bakani said while there was macroeconomic stability, businesses should take advantage of it to expand activities because when the tide changed (instability), volatility in exchange, high interest rates and volatile inflation would cause businesses to have doubts about doing more business.
“The improvements to rural infrastructures, marketing, down-stream processing, value-added activities and products and participation of local businesses and entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector should be the focus of government.”
Bakani said the summit would address how best local businesses, groupings like corporative societies, youths and women’s groups could participate meaningfully in some of these activities to empower them in deriving benefits from the LNG project and strong economic growth.
“We, at the central bank, will do our best to ensure the exchange rate appreciation is not pricing out our traditional export sector, making us uncompetitive in the international commodity markets.”
Meanwhile, Bakani said the government must focus on developing the traditional industries especially the agriculture sector which could alleviate the Dutch Disease.
Dutch Disease or the resource curse refers to an economic condition where a mineral boom leads to an appreciation of the exchange rate, which in turn depresses output in the tradable sector, in this case, agriculture.
He said the government must concentrate on improving the social indicators such as health, education, law and order and encourage local business as ways to lessen the Dutch Disease.

Shop shelves low on sugar

By BOSORINA ROBBY
PORT Moresby shops yesterday reported acute shortage of sugar on their shelves – whether it is Ramu Sugar or King Sugar from Seeto Kui, The National reports.
The major shops such as Stop N Shop and the TST and mini-supermarkets in the suburbs had limited stock or had run out since last week.
At the TST Tokarara Supermarket, the 1kg packet was selling for K6.90 while the 500g was selling for K3.90.
The management said these were the last in stock before they run dry.
There was a notice at the shop urging shoppers to limit their purchases to 2kg each.
At the JMart Supermarket at Erima, the management had restricted customers’ sales to only two packets of 500g Ramu Sugar at K3.90, adding that stock was very low.
However, they are also selling imported sugar from Australia and Thailand such as the Fabulous White Sugar selling for K8.45/kg and the K23.20/2kg.
Its unrefined brown sugar is selling for K10.30/kg.
The Black and Gold white sugar is selling for K11.50/kg and the unrefined brown sugar is K18.30/kg.
Lin Pure Refined Sugar from Thailand is selling for K5.50/kg while Number One Brothers Sugar is selling K1.80/200g and CSR brown sugar unrefined is selling for K11.50/500g.
According to the Ramu Agri Industries (RAI), Papua New Guinea’s only sugar producer and supplier, the shortage was due to many factors but mainly environmental.
RAI took out a paid newspaper advertisement last week explaining that the amount of sugar produced was dependent on the growing conditions in the Ramu Valley.
It said cane growth and sugar production had been affected by the wetter than normal weather in the past five years, resulting in pests and diseases in the fields and the sugar content.
The company had since asked the Government to lower import tariffs on sugar so as not to pass on the high costs to consumers.
RAI was also expected to import 4,000 metric tonnes of sugar this month to meet the demand for sugar until the start of the Ramu cane harvest next month.
According to the global markets, not all sugar-producing countries sell their processed sugar on international trade markets.
Currently, 70% the world’s sugar is consumed in the country where harvested and only 30% is traded outside country of origin.
Similarly, approximately 70% of the world’s sugar comes from the sugar cane while the rest comes from its alternate, the sugar beet.

Doctors can earn three times more in LNG project

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
DOCTORS engaged by the LNG project are paid three times more than their counterparts engaged in the public sector, The National reports.
A surgeon at the Mt Hagen General Hospital said yesterday a doctor engaged in the LNG project earned between K7,000 and K11,200 a fortnight while the Health Department was paying its doctors between K1,500 and K3,000.
This discrepancy is known by working doctors, who are currently agitating for increased perks and privileges with their employer, the state, and unless remedied, is likely to see an exodus of doctors from the public sector.
Although the claim could not be substantiated by the LNG project developers, the surgeon, who wished to remain anonymous, said many of his colleagues had been and “are being lured” by the LNG project and other resource companies.
Dr Thomas Vinit, the chairman of the review committee, confirmed last night that there was a grave danger of too many specialist doctors leaving the public sector unless the state could break away from the single line salary structure to compensate specialists properly in order to retain them.
“We actually did a job value study and established that there is too much discrepancy between what is on offer from private sector and what the go¬vernment is paying doctors.
“The government spends so much money on training doctors for up to 14 years.
“ If these doctors were suddenly to leave, it would leave a big vacuum in the public health sector.
“What we did (going on strike) was to prevent people from moving out. The government has got to see that.”
Vinit said if the national doctors were to be involved in a mass resignation and then return on individual contracts with the government, it would cost the go¬vernment a lot more because each specialist would be demanding the market rate.
“It takes the government up to K200,000 to train one doctor. To have that doctor leave with all the skills is a big loss,” he said.
The Mt Hagen surgeon said it was common knowledge that ExxonMobil and its sub-contractors were attracting specialist doctors.
The surgeon was considering his options too, he told The National.
He said: “Why should I keep on suffering on substandard pay when there are opportunities out there which I can explore and earn a decent living for me and my fa¬mily?”
He said the week-long NDA strike last week should send a clear message to the government that they must improve the pay and working conditions of national doctors – pay and conditions which he claimed had changed very little in the past 20 years.