Reflections on first week.

We spent 3 mornings visiting farms, small nursery operations and extension officers.
The most striking thing for me is how hilly the landscape is. Access and getting around is difficult even a short distance from Kokopo ; the roads have great holes in them, where the rainfall has gouged them out. One wide river we crossed had a concrete ford but one end of the ford had been carried away, you could see it downstream, in the river. So the locals had made a way through the river and up the bank, the Toyota ute we were in, barely had clearance over the boulders. 

One thing Ive realised is the number of kiwi sayings ("horses for courses", "6 of one and half a dozen of the other", etc) in my everyday language. The locals look at me and say huh? I've had to slow down and rephrase what I'm about to say, in a way they can understand.

It seems that agriculture and farming has not been a big priority over the last 20 years and so experience and expertise hasn't been passed on from one generation of farmers to another.
There is a young farmers training scheme underway to develop some young people to lead an increase in production. PNG has a fast growing population and so more food needs to be grown just to keep up with it.
One of the properties (about an hour out of Kokopo) we visited have started a jungle clearing program to develop "gardens", for the locals to start growing stuff. This is under the guidance of a trainee called Jerry.

The first area cleared (about 2 ha), has been planted in peanuts.Which is a very common first crop. The small plants in the fore ground that look like weeds are the peanuts) The locals are aiming to grow watermelons, beans and maybe lettuce.
The total area to be cleared is approx 60ha. over the next 6 months.

 This is what the countryside looks like before clearance and then after clearance and burning.

The camp where the villagers stay overnight is basic. They seem to get stuck in, clear a patch and then have a few days break, before moving onto the next patch. Chainsaws, machetes and burning are the tools, used to clear ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This is one of a number of nursery operations starting up, to sell plants to the farmers. The uptake by farmers has been enthusiastic; demand outstrips supply. In terms of vegetables one of the issues that needs work is ensuring a continuous supply of produce and also training farmers to let the produce develop more before harvesting. I can also foresee hygiene problems developing in the nurseries. One of them had disease problems with some crops last season.

In the coming week, another farm visit and then travel to Goroka to meet the head office staff of FPDA. 

I (Christine) notice the too early harvest in the market veges and also some fruit. Green bananas are delicious but green pawpaws need to show some yellowing and then may not keep too long even when refrigerated. Green mandarins are good as are the very long green beans. Quality of produce varies considerably and we soon learn if it looks old it probably is so keep looking. The women love to help and asking them to choose from their produce for me to buy has proved helpful in making relationships and getting good produce.

I am getting used to using the buses to and fro from Kokopo. A smiling hello, and thank-you gets a warm response and the locals who are getting to know us look-out for us. We feel increasingly safe even with some violence going on in villages away from here and do not go out at night unless we are picked up and dropped off.