Make PNG Pacific’s food basket

 By JAMES LARAKI

BANK of Papua New Guinea governor Loi Bakani said recently that PNG can become the food basket of the Pacific and beyond.

This is something NARI has been advocating and is certainly achievable. 

Speaking at an international investment summit in Port Moresby, Bakani called for the development of the agriculture sector. 

He spoke about how the shortage of food and the ever-increasing prices of food products worldwide presented an opportunity for us to feed the needy ones.  

He called on the Government to seriously look at developing an incentive framework that encouraged investment in the agriculture sector to replace imports, and enhance and encourage export of food products. 

We agree with Bakani that we can become a greater contributor and should use the opportunities presented with these trends to economically benefit our rural sector. 

This is possible as we are endowed with the necessary agro-climatic resources and genetic diversity to produce a variety of food crops and products. 

By taking advantage of this situation, we will also more rapidly improve our agricultural productivity in the food crop and livestock sectors.

The challenge is for us to not only produce enough for our own consumption, but also for export so as to take advantage of emerging opportunities from world trends. 

We will face challenges in establishing new trade relationships for agricultural products, particularly with fresh foods.

With suitable investment and policy support, it will be easier to build and maintain these relations and market opportunities.

The timing is right for us to make this happen. 

We have an advantage with our fertile soils,  favourable climate, available human resources and the ability to produce a wide range of agricultural products. 

We have made modest advances on the technology front in terms of improved varieties and practices for a range of agricultural commodities and environments.

There is a huge potential in applying modern bio-technology, processing techniques and value adding, and linking farmers to markets.

Much of this can be achieved through science and technology with appropriate policy and capacity development support. 

We agree with Bakani that there must be favourable policies towards agriculture with adequate investment for this to happen. 

Such policies must also be supported by good governance and management of agricultural programmes and projects at all levels.

Skyrocketing food prices and rising shortages of food worldwide have now become a topic of interest for governments and international organisations.

The World Bank has urged world leaders to “put food first” and wake up to the dangers of rising food price inflation. 

It says we are going to face a broader trend of increasing commodity prices, including food commodity prices.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that the rapid increase in hunger and malnourishment, since the food crisis of 2008, reveals the inadequacy of the present global food system and the urgent need for structural changes.

Some countries are likely to ban food export, especially for major commodities such as grains and cereals and essential oils. 

High food prices are likely to put upward pressure on domestic inflation in both the developed and developing countries. People would be badly affected from riots and protests, a scenario already experienced in many parts of the world.

During the last food price crisis in 2008, it was estimated some 870 million people in developing countries were hungry or malnourished. 

The FAO predicts that this figure will continue to grow.

The world is not investing enough in agriculture to satisfy the demand. 

The agriculture sector is grossly under-invested and under-used. 

It is often overlooked in policy decision-making and development investments. PNG is very much in this category. 

And this is why we believe Bakani’s call needs serious attention. 

The key to producing food for our own consumption and for export lies in boosting investment in agriculture. 

The governor intends to advocate such a policy during his term as chief executive of the bank. 

All concerned organisations should be taking a similar stand.

The world food shortage and increasing food prices will have severe impacts on millions of people in all parts of the world. 

This gives us a golden opportunity to invest and build prosperity through efficiency in agricultural production, down-stream processing and export.

We must not allow this opportunity to go by.