Project aims to help cocoa farmers get support

MORE cocoa farmers will access support to make the most of the sustained global demand for cocoa, after a project in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) was extended.
The Bougainville Cocoa Families Support Project aims to support the wellbeing of cocoa farmers and assist women, young people and men to better manage their cocoa plots.
It has been extended for two years to reach farming families in Buka, Selau-Suir, Tinputz and Wakunai.
The project is supported by the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the governments of PNG, Australia and New Zealand through the Bougainville partnership and delivered by Care.
First secretary at the Australian High Commission’s Buka office, Clayton Harrington, said cocoa was a growing industry with the potential to create sustainable livelihood for many Bougainvilleans.
“Over the past four years, we have seen individual smallholders improve their farming practices and management,” Harrington said.
“(The project) works with model farming families and groups to improve their skills, managerial capabilities and community cooperation to boost cocoa production,” he said.