Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an important regional producer with significant potential for yield uplifts and increase in national supply

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R&R Need

~90% of total land is in need of R&R

SHF land in R&R need

‘000 hectares

10,000 ha No need
42,000 ha R&R need

Need is primarily driven by old trees and bad current practices. The recent outbreak of Coffee Berry Borer, an endemic beetle, increases the R&R need.

Current SHF yield & potential uplift

Tons per hectare

0.97
1.94
Current yield
Target yield

Uplift potential

+100%

Uplift potential: Significant uplift potential given low current SHF yields

Potential increase in supply

~20-90%

Total national supply could increase ~20-90% if R&R and GAP is implemented on all SHF land in need of R&R3


Notes:
(1) No formal mapping of coffee growing areas in the country has been undertaken. FAO data is highly uncertain and land under coffee is likely to be underestimated.
(2) The current yield is calculated on the basis of SHF production divided by SHF land area. Given that coffee growing area is likely underestimated, SHF yields are likely estimated too high. (3) Rounded to the nearest 5%, estimate assumes that R&R and GAP increase yields with 100%, and the range reflects a 25-100% R&R success rate. Our interviews suggest very low yields that could be doubled. Source: FAO Statistics database; ICO statistics; USDA, Annual Coffee Report, 2017; Daniel Giovanni and John Hunt, Papua New Guinea: Strategic Assessment of the Coffee Sector, 2009; CIC, The Papua New Guinea Coffee Handbook, 2016; Dalberg Interview

Other Viability Considerations

  • No national or regional census have been held in Papua New Guinea so there is little comprehensive information on the coffee sector.
  • The lack of road infrastructure hampers the growth of the coffee sector and increases the difficulty of implementing R&R programs.

Farmer Segmentation

Most SHFs are at the bottom of the pyramid

  1. Large & medium farmers
  2. Commercial farmers in tight value chains
  3. Commercial farmers in loose value chains
  4. Disconnected farmers

National production is dominated by SHFs

The majority of SHFs are in disconnected value chains, with weak and erratic links to market. SHF orgs. are generally mismanaged and lack capacity.

# SHFs

‘000

500

There is no population census, hence high uncertainty on the number of SHFs

# SHF land

‘000 hectares

47

(~90% of national land) – farm size typically <1 hectare)

# SHF production

‘000 hectares

45

(~95% of national production)

Assessment of SHF orgs.

Weak and under performing coop sector – ~5% ofSHFs are linked to coops.

Links to market

SHFs have no formal links to market and selltheir unprocessed coffee in road markets.

Enabling Environment for R&R

  • Coffee share of GDP: N/A [Coffee share of exports: 1.6%(2015)]
  • Observers describe the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) as a bureaucratic and inefficient organization.
  • The lack of roads is a bottleneck for productivity and exports.
  • No centralized nurseries.
  • Seeds are produced by farmers themselves using traditional techniques, with no quality control.
  • SHFs have little, or no access, to other inputs (e.g. fertilizers).
  • SHFs have limited access to long-term credit. Banks or credit institutions do not lend to unorganized SHFs.
  • Exporters / private sector actors can pre-finance SHFs, but this source of finance is inefficient for R&R.
  • Most SHFs do not receive any form of TA.
  • PNG is the most linguistically diverse country in the world, with over 850 languages spoken. This diversity, together with the lack of infrastructure, makes the providing of TA to SHF difficult and costly.

Examples of R&R program

Past government R&R programs were mostly unsuccessful

CIC and Government - Industry-wide renovation pruning
late 1990s

The purpose of the program was to increase productivity, but, according to interviews and observes, the program was mismanaged and achieved poor results.

Government - National Agriculture Development Plan
2006-2011

The program aimed at “Injecting new life” into agriculture and the coffee sector, but was mismanaged and abandoned after five years.

The world Bank - Productive Partnership in Agriculture
2010-2019

The purpose of the program is to improve the livelihoods of coffee and cocoa SHFs through improved productivity. To date, the program has focused more on cocoa renovation.

Learn more and get involved

There is a lot of work to be done to ensure the long-term supply of coffee from countries where the crop has long shaped the social and economic fabric. Learning to extend the life of their trees and improve yields helps farmers stabilize annual production and in turn, income, while the rest of the world benefits from a steady supply of quality coffee. Continue on to learn more about the immediate attention and action that is required to make this a reality.