Farming one way to address poverty

FARMING cocoa is one way to address poverty, says a farmer in Nuku, West Sepik.
Danny Waiyet, farmer and managing director of Wainam Ltd, a Nuku cocoa cooperative, challenged farmers and representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Cocoa Board of Papua New Guinea during a two-day cocoa clone budding training at the Hawain agricultural research station outside Wewak, East Sepik, on Tuesday.
Waiyet said Nuku was a leading district in cocoa production prior to the March 2006 cocoa pod borer (CPB) outbreak which decimated the country’s K300 million cocoa industry.
“CPB pest dampened our spirits but with this new innovation through training and supply of cloned CPB tolerant materials, Nuku will be back to contribute towards the Government’s target of producing 300,000 metric tons by 2030,” he said.
A total of 68 cocoa coordinators from the 84 council wards in East, West and Central Palai, Maimai Wanwan and Yangkok local level governments in Nuku attended the training sponsored by Wainam Ltd which has also established 38 satellite cocoa nurseries in the district.
A total of 825 model farmer groups have been identified; 625 from East Sepik and 200 from West Sepik to undergo FAO/Cocoa Board training.
Monitoring and evaluation specialist Valentine Nchinda told the farmers that the success of the project depended on all stakeholders being honest and working hard.
FAO’s representatives will visit the villages in the next couple of weeks to decide on providing further assistance including loans.