Papua New Guinea - Priorities

1. Overview
2. Country Strategy
3. Priorities
4. Key Program Managers
5. Current Projects
6. Concluded Projects
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Priorities

ACIAR has a formal program of consultation with PNG to establish priorities in research collaboration, as well as annual smaller consultations and industry workshops to finetune these priorities. A record of the most recent set of formal consultations, held in May 2008, is provided at www.aciar.gov.au under ‘Partner country priorities / Papua New Guinea’. The ACIAR PNG portfolio emphasises the disciplines of agricultural systems (including postharvest activities); production and protection of root, horticultural and tree crops; and fisheries and forestry. Training priorities are mainly addressed through targeted activities within projects, although support for postgraduate degrees in Australia and an in-country scholarship scheme at the University of Technology, Lae, are also significant contributors to capacity development. The priorities are grouped under the following thematic subprograms.

Subprogram 1: Addressing social, cultural and policy constraints to the adoption of agricultural technologies

• Interventions to overcome cross-cutting social and cultural constraints to smallholder household profitability/productivity based on analysis of:




• land mobilisation issues (tenure, registration, titles, communal)


• applicability of new labour mobilisation models beyond the cocoa and oil palm industries


• impact of smallholder involvement in participatory action, research activities and other group learning processes on adoption of technical innovations


• effects of cultural factors on ability to replicate successful entrepreneurship in agriculture


• analysis of income utilisation, savings incentives and microfinance access in smallholder families, particularly with respect to establishing criteria for successful engagement of women





• Analysis of how current production and marketing systems impact on women in terms of efficiency and equity, and the role and effectiveness of women’s groups in rural industries


• Assessment of the role of cottage industries in contributing to livelihoods and household cash flow, and complementing engagement in formal markets and the national economy


• Economic assessment of the rice trade and rice-based farming systems, including national demand (role of production and imports) and potential returns from investing in technical improvements


• Improved management of water under climate variability and change, including:
  
  
  
  • management of water availability to meet market demand and food security
  
  
  • identification of drought-vulnerable areas in PNG and potential policy and technical interventions
  
  

Subprogram 2: Enhancement of smallholder income from horticulture and root crops

• Matching of supply to demand, and marketing of highland root and horticultural crops, including:




• understanding the sector to clarify demand of different product categories in major markets


• understanding the relative effectiveness of different collaborative arrangements for mobilising smallholder farmers from social and cultural perspectives


• economics of storage depots and the role of private sector versus government intervention


• establishment of criteria for productive relationships between smallholder farmers, middlemen and private-sector buyers and sellers




• Application of traditional staple crop varieties (sweetpotato, taro and banana) and identification of suitable crop varieties for processed products


• Identification and development of opportunities and strategies for using floriculture to improve the livelihoods of communities, especially women


• Identification of quarantine barriers to potential export of root crops and flowers to other countries


• Use of legumes and fallow crops for soil fertility improvement and longer term nutrient supply in vegetable production systems


• Analysis of and interventions in market chains for temperate vegetables, including collation of market information and strategies to improve postharvest operations


• Assessment of simple technologies and mechanisation systems for family and community production, postharvest handling and storage of horticultural crops


• Improvement of seed multiplication, distribution and marketing systems, including assessment of strategies for enhancing availability of high-quality seed


• Improved productivity and profitability of sweetpotato-based farming systems, including:




• development of breeding and selection strategies for important traits in sweetpotato for different regions in relation to yield, stress tolerance and consumer preferences


• development of integrated pest, disease, weed and nutrient management strategies


• evaluation of industrial opportunities for processed sweetpotato products




• Identification of promising root crop–legume–tree–livestock systems that provide better use of crop residues for nutrient cycling and local sources of animal feed
  

• Social and economic analysis of incentives for uptake of intensified management systems in cocoa, coffee and oil palm


• Development and application of geographic information system (GIS) databases for coffee, cocoa and oil palm, with a focus on management of pest and disease outbreaks


• Development and smallholder implementation of integrated management systems for major oil palm pests (Zophiuma) and diseases (Ganoderma)


• Assessment of natural resources sustainability indicators for tree crop industries


• Management systems for processing wastes from coffee and other tree crops to underpin development of environmentally sustainable production practices required for certain export markets

• Use of GIS-based tools that integrate aquaculture into existing land-use systems and socioeconomic contexts


• Small-scale inland aquaculture, including cost-effective feeds and feeding strategies and increased availability of quality fingerlings


• Evaluation of livelihood opportunities in recreational fishing resources such as black bass


• Promotion of enhanced economic returns from agroforestry systems, addressing:




• integration of high-value tree crops into agricultural systems


• germplasm development, delivery and agroforestry demonstration sites


• social, cultural and economic motivations for landowners planting trees




• Social and economic approaches to improve smallholder involvement in forestry and agroforestry, addressing land tenure and user rights issues and participatory processes to foster community engagement
  
• Improvement in economic returns from timber processing and manufacturing, including economic analysis of sawmilling strategies, improving sawn log recovery and use of small-diameter logs from secondary forests

• Optimisation of economic, social and environmental returns from planted and native forests, particularly addressing landowner land-use options, product diversification and income-earning opportunities for women


• Climate change and sustainable forest management, including research on transparent instruments to foster landowner involvement in carbon trading (through ACIAR collaboration with whole-of-government programs)


• Reafforestation strategies for rehabilitation of degraded areas, including secondary (cutover) forests, mine sites and grasslands, in particular involving management by local communities


• Management of shark fisheries, including target (shark longline) and non-target (tuna, purse seine and longline) fisheries
• Responding to over-fished inshore fisheries through community-based fisheries management, restocking (especially of sea cucumber) and identification of aquaculture-based livelihoods


• Assessment of future risks, control and potential utilisation strategies for invasive or exotic fisheries species


• Strengthening of surveillance systems to monitor and respond to livestock diseases


• Assessment of the impact of cocoa pod borer infestation and potential coffee berry borer infestation on smallholder farmers; implementation of measures to contain their spread, both pre-border and post-border; and development and dissemination of management tactics for established infestations