Dept launches K2.3bil agriculture plan, aims to go rural

THE K2.3 billion agriculture medium term development plan 2020-2022 recently launched by Prime Minister James Marape, is aimed at aligning the sector to the Government’s medium term plan to achieve its vision of going rural.
Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) secretary Daniel Kombuk said it was a milestone achievement for the department after years of disarray.
“The launching of this sector plan sends out signals that the agriculture sector is transforming,” Kombuk said.
Kombuk said the plan was designed to take the focus off from Port Moresby back to the rural setting.
He said that the problems in the agriculture sector accumulated over many years, resulting in people being neglected especially in rural areas over the years.
“We are on mission to clean up the rooted corruption in the agriculture sector to restore its pride.
“Under our leadership, the Agriculture Department is the first sector to have the plans align with the government’s plan and many more good things are in the pipeline,” he said.
Kombuk said sector coordination, management and unavailability of agricultural statistics and information had hindered effective policy decisions at the national level.
He said the department and sector agencies were now aligned and ready to lead and deliver.
He said with the support of Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon, they would work towards rescuing the sector in order to support the people.
Kombuk said there were some outstanding matters to attend to but he assured stakeholders, agricultural industry players, farmers, development and trading partners, and the people of PNG that agriculture was on a path of change and development.
“We took over a department that was scandal ridden and listed as most corrupt sector of the government.
“This department will no longer be on that list but will be transformed to its old glory days.”
The agriculture development plan was designed through the collective efforts of the Agriculture Department and the Department of National Planning and Monitoring and took a year to complete.