Papua New Guinea
Agriculture in Papua New Guinea accounts for approximately 25% of GDP. The economy has recovered above its pre-pandemic GDP, supported by high commodity prices and the removal of COVID-19 restrictions. Cash crops ranked by value are coffee, oil, cocoa, copra, tea, rubber and sugar.
PHAMA Plus works with businesses and the public sector to maintain and improve trade of agricultural products by assisting them to meet export market requirements. PHAMA Plus also assists with market research and market development activities in terms of new export products. To maximise impact, the program works with key actors in the market system to generate benefit among farming households.
The PHAMA Program was launched in PNG in 2015 with a focus on improving market access for the country’s key export industries, supporting women and men of local biosecurity authorities perform their market access and biosecurity functions better and to promote industry coordination through the establishment of public-private industry working groups or IWGs. In November 2018, the program transitioned to a new phase now known as PHAMA Plus which will run through to June 2026.
Priority areas identified for PHAMA Plus’ support in PNG are cocoa, coffee, high-value coconut products and biosecurity, quality and standards.
Biosecurity, Quality and Standards
International export markets are associated with complex biosecurity, certification and quality requirements, market development costs, transport costs, delivery risks and competition. Agricultural, horticultural, food and forestry product exports will not happen, or be severely constrained, in the absence of effectively operating biosecurity, quality and standards (BQS) functions. The e ...Read More
Cocoa
Cocoa is the third most important crop in terms of its economic importance to PNG as it provides direct economic benefit to over 150,000 households who depend on cocoa as a main cash crop. It significantly impacts rural livelihoods and involves both men and women equally on the production side, but men tend to benefit more from the sales of cocoa. PHAMA Plus’ previous work in the PNG coco ... Read More
Coffee
PHAMA Plus builds on the success of PHAMA in the coffee sector of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to increase the country’s global competitiveness and open new markets for high value trade. Coffee is one the world’s most widely traded commodities and most valuable industries. About 70 countries produce and export coffee; most of these countries and all others consume it. In mature coffee-importing ...Read More
Coconut
The commercial coconut sector in PNG includes three sub-sectors. The largest is the traditional copra/coconut oil sub-sector which includes copra producers, copra millers and exporters who produce and export copra and/or process copra into coconut oil (CNO) and copra meal as a by-product for exports. There is also a substantial but largely informal sub-sector engaged in production and ... Read More
