Cultivating Livelihoods in Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, over six million people – approximately 87% of the population – live in rural communities. These rural areas face common challenges including extreme isolation, social tension and unrest, poor access to services, and low income-earning opportunities, making progress in the development sector extremely difficult. Despite having an economy based on a rich endowment of natural resources, including gold, timber, fish and natural gas, it is estimated that 37% of the population lives below the poverty line and human development is of the lowest in the region.
One of the most persistent myths in development is that people with traditional lifestyles must move from subsistence to the cash economy. In reality, a more sustainable approach is to combine these components to form ‘hybrid livelihoods,’ where families are able to grow food in their own gardens, sell crops in local markets, and run small businesses. A broad range of development initiatives are taking place from improving agricultural varieties, to conducting enterprise management skills training, improving access to markets, and empowering women to engage in income-generating activities. While progress is limited and gradual, these efforts are helping to sustainably build livelihoods across the country.
Hides, Hela Province, 2012. An entrepreneurial farmer picks a ripe pineapple from his flourishing fields.
Hides, Hela Province, 2012. A young pineapple.
Kikori, Gulf Province, 2013. Sarah Kaipu, a nurse at the Kikori Hospital, runs a weaving project with local women, making traditional mats and fans to help generate household incomes.
Hides, Hela Province, 2012. A field of sweet potatoes in front of a village hut.
Hides, Hela Province, 2013. Cathy Uga, a local farmer and business woman, stands in a field of maize, one of the many crops she grows on her abundant farm.
Katopa, Hela Province, 2013. Women stoke the fires to produce their ‘one pot’ meal – a meal of grains, vegetables and protein that meets their nutritional requirements.
Katopa, Hela Province, 2013. One of the most important ways of creating change at a local level is to work with women and women’s groups across the country are driving socio-economic growth in the most rural areas.
Hides, Hela Province, 2013.
Port Moresby, 2013.
Port Moresby, 2013. Locally grown produce for sale at the Malaoro Market.
Katopa, Hela Province, 2013. After attending a nutrition and health workshop, women learn how to make bread using locally grown ingredients.
Komo, Hela Province, 2014. In an effort to encourage local economies, baking training was conducted with women’s groups across the area. Using drum ovens, the initiative has been incredibly successful and this baking group in Komo eventually built their own bakery to supply their growing demand.
Mabuli, Hela Province, 2012. Women participate in a sewing project aimed at improving household incomes and rural livelihoods.
Kikori, Gulf Province, 2014. Women gather for a community meeting in Kikori, one of the ways that women help to share ideas and foster local development in their villages.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands, 2014. Agriculture is one of the most important activities in rural livelihoods. Ensuring a good crop is vital for the survival of many households and women propogate resilient seeds in a greenhouse before planting them in their fields.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands, 2014. A woman makes her way through a casava field.
Hides, Hela Province, 2015.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands, 2014. In rural economies, having healthy livestock is an important component of maintaining household incomes and local farmers go to great care to tend to their animals.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands, 2014. On a hot summers day, women walk through a newly planted to field of rice, a new enterprise they are testing on their expansive farm.
Kikori, Gulf Province, 2013. Rice is not commonly grown in Papua New Guinea, but a women’s group in the Kikori Delta has successfully started rice production to improve rural livelihoods.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands Province, 2014. Women open up a fresh bag of mulch to use in their fields to boost agricultural production. Farming is primarily done by the women and involves every generation.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands Province, 2014. Ana Molo, one of the founders of the Paua Homa Women’s Agricultural Business Group, explains the importance of involving women in agriculture.
Homa-Paua, Southern Highlands, 2014. Three women stand in a flourishing rice field, one of the many agricultural initiatives aimed at improving production and increasing resilience of local farmers.
Karunda, Hela Province, 2014. Women from the Kuranda Women’s Group sit in their informal bakery – using a drum oven, the women make an assortment of baked goods for sale in the area.
Karunda, Hela Province, 2014.
Paua, Southern Highlands Province, 2015. A woman sews a ‘meri-blouse’, a locally styled shirt, as part of her women’s group initiative that aims to increase incomes for women.
Paua, Southern Highlands Province, 2015. Women from the Paua Women’s Group proudly look over their display of freshly baked goods
Paua, Southern Highlands Province, 2015. A field of cabbages.
Mabuli, Hela Province, 2015. Freshly baked trays of bread cool on the counter at a local refreshment shop in Mabuli village.
Porebada, Central Province, 2015. Nut farming is not common in Papua New Guinea, but a local farmer shows a handfull of cashews, the latest produce from the trees he planted to diversify his farm.
Paua, Southern Highlands Province, 2015. Propogating seeds is an important component of sustainable agriculture.
Hides, Hela Province, 2015. Hariki Ikila, subsistence farmer.
Hides, Hela Province, 2015. A woman walks through a thriving field of pumpkins, one component of a sustainable farm in the Highlands.
Hides, Hela Province, 2015. Agricultural specialists work with rural farmers to test out hybrid varieties to find produce that will yield the best produce with minimal inputs.
Hides, Hela Province, 2015. Hariki Ikila checks a maize crop in his garden – he has been experimenting with a hybrid seed of yellow and purple maize to improve resilience in his agricultural production.
Porebada, 2018. As women try to increase their income generating opportunities, new tailoring and sewing businesses are beginning to emerge within the villages.
Porebada, 2018. A woman sews a traditional ‘meri blouse’ as part of her new home business, aimed at increasing economic resilience.
Hides, 2018. A group of women stand on a mountain top, sharing stories of how they have they have worked with women across the area to improve agricultural production.
Hides, 2018. A woman tends to her new garden. After a devastating earthquake in February 2018, most rural gardens were destroyed and are only just beginning to get their basic livelihoods back on track.
Hides, 2018. A woman shovels earth onto a newly planted garden. Maintaining subsistence gardens is a difficult and constant task, mostly done by women.
