Govt signs K82mil loan deal for farmers’ project

By HELEN TARAWA
THE Government yesterday signed a K82 million (US$25.5m) loan agreement with the International Fund for Agriculture Development to fund a project focusing on the market for village farmers.
The total funding package is K162m (US$50.2m) – with the balance to be provided by the Government, financial institutions and others.
Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel said the Government continued to stress the importance of agriculture to the people.
“We continue to create initiatives with our partners on agriculture because we all know it is the backbone of our country. Many people continue to rely directly and indirectly on agriculture and there are many initiatives underway,” he said.
“The Fresh Product Development Authority and the Department of Agriculture and Livestock are going to be the primary implementers on behalf of the government for this project.
“We want to move towards self-reliance and import replacement. That is why we continue to look towards initiatives such as milk production, stock-feed and rice production.
Abel said PNG continued to rely heavily on imported basic food items, vegetables and dairy products. “Initiatives like this tend to address that. But it’s about empowering rural farmers and the people so that they can translate the wealth of the land and the productive capacity into income generation.”