Papua New Guinea: Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project
Project area. The project will focus on Papua New Guinea's main coffee- and cocoa-growing areas. Initially, this will entail targeting three highland provinces for coffee (Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands and Simbu) and East New Britain and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville for cocoa. In the highlands, there is a high incidence of rural poverty, while in the cocoa-growing areas, the recent occurrence of cocoa pod borer (CPB) attacks has had a substantial negative effect on poor cocoa farmers, which, for farmers living in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, is compounded by the region's post-conflict situation.
Target group. The project will adopt an inclusive targeting approach towards the cocoa and coffee smallholders in the implementation area. Disadvantaged groups will be prioritized, and specific efforts will be made to form partnerships with smallholder farmers in less favoured areas (such as remote highland areas or areas hit by CPB that are dependent on cocoa) and partnerships that mobilize vulnerable groups (such as women and young farmers).
Project background and objectives. Coffee- and cocoa-growing are an important part of farming systems and rural livelihoods in the project area and play a critical role in helping households meet their cash requirements. Against this background, the overall goal of the project is to improve the performance and sustainability of value chains in cocoa- and coffee-producing areas, in order to improve the livelihoods of smallholder producers. To this end, the project will strengthen the coordination of the coffee and cocoa industry and the related institutions, facilitate linkages between smallholder farmers and agribusiness for the provision of technologies and services, and provide critical market access infrastructure.
Project description. The project will have three components. These may be fine-tuned during design completion:
- Institutional strengthening and coordination of the cocoa and coffee industry. This component is aimed at improving the performance of sector institutions and enhancing industry coordination in the coffee and cocoa sectors. Existing stakeholder platforms for industry coordination will be consolidated to address short- and long-term needs for sector governance; skills development in the industry; improved extension services; an industry strategy to deal with threats to quality and quality promotion; greater information within the industry; market development; and crop diversification. Support will be provided through four subcomponents: industry coordination and policy development; communication and information management systems; quality and sustainability management; and project management and monitoring and evaluation.
- Productive partnerships. This component will seek to increase the integration of smallholder producers into performing and remunerative value chains by developing and implementing productive alliances between smallholders and the private sector (such as processors and exporters) in the project areas. Productive partnerships in cocoa- and coffee-growing areas will be demand-driven and will need to be consistent with the specific priorities identified in each subsector. Such partnerships will seek to increase the productivity, quality and sustainability of smallholder cocoa/coffee production and improve cocoa and coffee farming systems.
- Market access infrastructure. The objective of this component is to improve smallholder market access in the target areas. It will finance the identification and selection of priority investments in support of the productive partnerships component and the related investments in infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance.
Important features. The project objectives are fully consistent with country and sector strategies (Medium-Term Development Strategy 2005-2010 and National Agriculture Development Plan 2007-2016). It is also in line with IFAD's Pacific Island Countries Subregional Strategic Opportunities Paper, in particular, by promoting: (i) support for vulnerable groups; (ii) development of market opportunities; (iii) income generation in rural areas; and (iv) participation in multistakeholder partnerships. By focusing on smallholders' main cash crops, the project holds significant pro-poor potential. In terms of innovation, the project offers scope for inventive approaches and ideas during project implementation and considerable potential for scaling up.
Potential cofinanciers. IFAD plans to cofinance this World Bank-initiated. The World Bank will provide financing of US$25.0 million.
