Invest more in agriculture

PUBLIC sector investment in the agriculture sector has been half-hearted at best and the sector’s potential to improve livelihoods remain largely unrealised.
The rural masses, consumers in urban centres and businesses associated with the trading of agriculture produce, would have wanted a more vibrant sector.
But that has not been the case.
And that will most likely remain so unless political will ends the cycle of apathy and make meaningful investment in it.
Reforming the agriculture sector and all government systems involved with it is not for the faint-hearted.
Because of the apathy and the chronic shortfalls in resources, pushing reform is going to be like stepping on the toes of people who did not want change, people who wanted to maintain the status quo so that the sector remained where it is. Political leaders have talked about agriculture being the economic backbone.
Yet, what the sector over the years has been receiving in terms of resourcing is less than two per cent of the national budget.
Yet the sector has contributed on average, in the last few years, 45 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product in PNG.
Translated into kina, that represents about K3 to K4 billion.
In return, the sector gets less than K200 million in government support.
Every year the sector expects increased budgetary allocations and the creation of enabling policies and legislations to drive growth.
Now we have the elections coming in two years’ time and candidates with political parties are going out to sell their policies on agriculture.
Political rhetoric at election time may sound convincing to the rural masses who have nothing but their plots of land to provide their every need.
Which political party is brave enough to translate its policy into reality?
Which political party is willing to kick the lackluster public service into action but not before creating an enabling environment through resource provision and sound policies?
There are pockets of the country locked away by geographical isolation that badly need government and or private sector intervention to bring out their abundance.
These are areas currently accessible only by air.
And it has been said that high freight costs have remained the biggest challenge to bringing goods in an out.
But there has got to be away around that. Apart from farming their land, there is very little else people in these remote areas can do to improve their lot.
Quality education for children, better health and longer lives can be possible through greater commitment by government to assist these communities in small businesses based on tilling the land.
There are large coffee plantations left largely idle in Western Highlands and the Waghi Mek plantations in Jiwaka, plus a host of other smaller ones in Eastern Highlands. They need reviving, replanting and management.
Another major revenue earner, the coconut industry, has declined to such a level it is now considered a sunset industry.
These are vital industries that must not be ignored so that we are not overly dependent on non-renewable resources.
If we put cocoa, copra and other commodities, we can create a heaven on paradise.
The predominantly rural-based population of the country expects a break from the lack of genuine commitment to the agriculture sector.
Prime Minister James Marape sees the potential in agriculture and is going out in force to restore it.
And all this can be achieved if everyone works together as a team.