Zibe unveils 10-year agro devt strategy

AGRICULTURE Minister Sasa Zibe has unveiled his ministry’s newly launched national agriculture development plan for 2007-2016 at the 23rd Australia-PNG business forum in Cairns.
Noting that this was the first time the Agriculture Ministry has been invited to make a presentation at the bilateral Cairns business meeting, Mr Zibe said Papua New Guinea was presently undergoing rapid structural reforms.
He said that because most people did not get involved in resource development and were waiting for royalties, there was “a need for a paradigm shift in policies”.
Mr Zibe said he had to set the agenda for the sector when he was appointed minister seven months ago.
The new plan, he said, which has been endorsed and approved by the National Executive Council, would bring a new sense of hope for agriculture and act as a catalyst for development.
He said the Government had agreed to spend K100 million a year for the next 10 years on the agricultural sector and he was confident agricultural exports would grow from K1.4 billion at present to K2.4 billion.
In a separate presentation, Dr Sam Lahis, policy coordinator at the Agriculture department, said there had been no cohesive agriculture plan for the country in the last 30 years.
He said the new plan would provide the basis for “sustainable transformation of the agriculture sector”.
It will promote greater cooperation between various agricultural bodies and research organisations and also highlights investment opportunities for various crops, including oil palm, cassava, rice, wheat and flour.
Ricky Mitio, chief executive of the Coffee Industry Corp, highlighted the importance of coffee to the economy, noting that 1.1 million kg had been produced in 14 provinces.
However, he said some of the best Arabica coffee had come from around the Goroka area which was “the best place in the world to work”.
 

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