Centre extends services to Highlands, opens new office

THE Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (Cefi) has extended its services to the Highlands with the opening of a new office in Goroka, Eastern Highlands.
The office will serve as the focal point for coordinating Cefi’s financial inclusion activities to support the Market for Village Farmers (MVF) project which is financed by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).
It will also support the project’s overall aim of improving the livelihoods of village farming households in target provinces by facilitating their transition from semi-subsistence agriculture in the fresh produce and galip nut to market-oriented production and farming as a business.
Executive director Saliya Ranasinghe said Cefi, through its Goroka office, would coordinate the delivery of family farm team training and work with nine selected partner financial institutions (PFIs) to develop innovative financial products and services to meet commercial and business financial needs of MVF rural farming communities.
“Cefi will work with Care International PNG to conduct family farm team training to the 25,000 identified farming households in the Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands, Chimbu, Jiwaka, Morobe and East New Britain provinces and facilitate the access of farming households and other players in the fresh produce and galip nut value chains to affordable and diversified financial products and services,” Ranasinghe said.
Bank of Papua New Guinea assistant governor Elison Pidik said: “The decision to establish the Cefi office is to have Cefi presence in the Highlands and closer ties with fresh produce farmers and partners so we’re better positioned to bring improvement in the livelihood of family farmers.”