Call for reform in agriculture for PNG's Highlands
A group representing farmers in Papua New Guinea's Highlands region says serious reform is needed as the country's agricultural output for the year is set to decline yet again.
Transcript
A group representing farmers in Papua New Guinea's Highlands region says serious reform is needed as the country's agricultural output for the year is set to decline yet again.
Despite the government and donors pouring millions of dollars into the sector each year, the Highlands Farmers and Settlers Association says farmers are seeing none of it.
Its deputy president, Steven Kotene, who is also a coffee farmer, told Jamie Tahana the funding is continually abused and misused at the expense of the economic well-being of many small farmers.
STEVEN KOTENE: The Government is funding more money respectively over the years, there's a consistent decline. It's not an improvement, that is why the people, the farmers are concerned now.
JAMIE TAHANA: So the Government has put millions of kina into the agriculture sector over the past few years but you're saying less has come out of it, what is causing that?
SK: There is a total misuse, a total abuse. The mechanism is not in order, the policy is right but there's no legal framework to the policy. That's why the politicians can interfere, the public servants can come in and out and get money, direct it here and there. Then it's not coming down well on the ground, to see the output, the result.
JT: So you're saying no farmers are seeing this money, this money is put in the budget each year. It goes through the layers of bureaucracy and by the time it reaches farmers there's nothing.
SK: Yes, that's what I mean. The fund in the parliament put [forward] the money, the government put the money, but there is a total abuse and misuse in the system, and the priorities of the public servants that implementing agencies are not in order that's what I mean. In various sectoral agencies of the agricultural department.
JT: When you say abuse and misuse what do you mean? Do you mean corruption, or it's been spent in the wrong places? What exactly do you mean when you say this?
SK: Well of course, that's what I mean by corruption, total corruption and abuse and misuse of public funds meant for the purpose, it's not used for that purpose, that specific purpose. And there's no nursery, there's no output, input, there's no extension, there's a total decline in agriculture because there's no subsidy, there's no ongoing progress, there's no implementation of those programs on the ground.
JT: You represent farmers in the Highlands area, what problems are you seeing here?
SK: The problem here, in the Highlands, the government is saying one thing and is doing the other thing, the money specifically for the farmers is not there, it's been hijacked, that's why there's a decline in the agriculture sector. Not in coffee along, but all other sectors of agriculture sector, copra, cacao, and all these livestock, there's a total decline in all those productions.
JT: If the money was getting through to the farmers what would it be spent on? What programs do you want to be properly funded?
SK: The programs that we want to fund is using simple expansion, simple little things that make an impact, they're not doing the little things, they're tapping into big things, [putting the] cart before the horse, it doesn't make any sense.
JT: What kind of mechanism or legislation would you as farmers like to see?
SK: The farmers want legislative mechanisms in place, the funds have to be diverted to where the farmers are to implement their programs, to increase their production.
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