Misconceptions of PNG agriculture unearthed

Geraldine Coutts

Last Updated: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:03:00 +1100

A new study of Papua New Guinea's rural population has revealed agriculture dominates the lives of most Papua New Guineans, but it is undervalued and misunderstood.

'Food and Agriculture in Papua New Guinea', a new book published by the Australian National University Press, says for most people in PNG, agriculture is an important part of their lives - physically, culturally, economically, socially and nutritionally.

Co-author Michael Bourke, from ANU, has told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program, that while 81 per cent of PNG's population live in rural areas, the power lies with those in urban areas.

And, he says, those in urban areas are responsible for many myths that define the country.

"For example, there's a myth that Papua New Guineans live on rice. Well these urban people do live on rice. But in fact the rural majority do not live on rice, they live on sweet potatoes, bananas, sago and other root crops," Dr Bourke said.

Only four other countries in the world have a greater proportion of their populations' living in rural areas than PNG.

Dr Bourke says while the goverment in the capital Port Moresby doesn't ignore the role of rural PNG, agriculture does "tick away in the background."

"Certainly subsistence agriculture and food production is generally is out of sight," Dr Bourke said.

"Basically the huge number of people - we're talking about over a million households in the rural area - who produce food, they produce most of their own food, and it quietly happens... and most of this is not marketed, a very tiny proportion of this goes through the formal markets, we're talking about one or two per cent.

"So it happens in the background, so I think because it's invisible it tends to be undervalued."

Dr Bourke says in his research he also discovered that barriers to land access are also a myth.

"When I listen to people (in rural PNG) talk about the constraints they talk about transport, they talk about security, sometimes they talk about credit, they talk about labour availability... but you never, ever hear people talk about not having access to land in the customary land situation," he said.