Maprik, NZ uni go into agriculture

By ISAAC NICHOLAS
MAPRIK and Lincoln are worlds apart but share a common development interest.
Maprik MP Gabriel Kapris has announced that his electorate is going into partnership with Lincoln University, in New Zealand, for the development of its land-based resources.
Maprik had engaged the Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment (Vudal) for farmer extension training at the Bainyik university campus.
But it will now establish a partnership with Lincoln University to provide leadership and capacity-building land-based development in establishing an agribusiness education, research and innovation hub for the Sepik provinces and offer opportunities for the people of PNG.
Kapris said Maprik district administrator Simon Failou and media officer Tony Walwal had returned from a fact finding mission and were impressed with Lincoln University’s status as the specialist land-based university of New Zealand.
Lincoln University was established as an agriculture college in 1878 and became a leading learning institution in the world with its focus on transforming land, people and economies.
The university has developed a new strategic plan of delivery of its innovations to the South Pacific island countries through a model known as “Lincwantok”, starting with the Melanesian countries of PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji.
The model was developed by a PNG international consultant, Philip Samson Yendowe, who is the Lincwantok coordinator; and the head of Maori and Pacifica Development, Prof Hirini Matunga, of the university.
The proposed Maprik model will encompass what is known as the Maprik Agribusiness Innovation and Development Centre (MAIDC).
The centre will develop and coordinate key areas of land-based developments in academic training in agribusiness, environment management, tourism; production management – extension and professional development practices; processing, quality assurance and marketing management capacities; research and innovations in agribusiness and land-based developments.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Bainyik rice was grown and supplied throughout the two Sepik provinces.
Maprik is the leading Robusta coffee growing district, with recently vanilla, cocoa, and noni farming taking root.
Kapris said the formal arrangements with Lincoln University would start in early January with a visit to the university in New Zealand to sign a MoU.
Kapris announced placements and sponsorships of 20 students from Maprik to Lincoln University starting in 2012 to undertake specialist education training in agriculture, natural science and related fields.