Focus on agriculture, state told

 THE government has been giving relatively scant support to agriculture despite the fundamental dependence on it by the vast majority of the population, according to Institute of National Affairs director Paul Barker.

He said that last Friday when asked about the Productive Partnership in Agriculture Programme (PPAP) which is funded by the World Bank and International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).

“The lack of tangible sector prioritisation, policies and plans by the government, in turn, left most development partners focusing on other sectors, with only a few, such as New Zealand and the PNG Sustainable Development Program, giving substantial sector support,” Barker said.

“Even the government’s expected sector initiatives, notably the National Agriculture Development Programme, proved a major disappointment, ending up as little more than costly slush funds without much tangible connection to agriculture. 

“There will, hopefully, now be a positive shift in policy and attention to the needs of agriculture and other renewable industries, with the welcome recent launch of the National Strategy for Responsible Sustainable Development for PNG.”