Storage facility for fresh farm produce

The National Weekender

Kundiawa-Gembogl district development authority sets up coolers to store supplies for Port Moresby market

By MALUM NALU
AT 8-Mile in Port Moresby, work is quietly taking place on a major project, that promises to have a big impact on farmers from throughout rural Papua New Guinea.
A cold storage facility, established by the Kundiawa-Gembogl District Development Authority (DDA) through its business arm Agro-Tech with the full support of Prime Minister James Marape, is being built here.
Fresh produce, particularly bulb onions and potatoes from Kundiawa-Gembogl, will be stored here for buyers in Port Moresby.
The facility will be run by the Kundiawa-Gembogl DDA but will serve all of PNG.
Agriculture, fisheries and meat products from all over PNG will be brought here and stored for distribution to Port Moresby, PNG and international markets.
PM Marape has given his support since the proposal first landed on his table in early 2020, including securing the land from Department of Agriculture and Livestock, for Kundiawa-Gembogl DDA to build the cold storage facilities
The Prime Minister, ever since he took office in May 2019, has spoken about his vision for PNG to be self-sufficient in food production by 2025.
K200 million for farming
On Aug 23, 2019, while opening the K20 million Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) Haus in Goroka, he announced that his government was allocating K200 million every year for an agriculture incubation programme to achieve food self-suffiency for PNG by 2025.
The aim is to make agriculture a family-oriented business, thus, becoming inter-generational and handed down from one generation to another for families to live off their business forever.
Papua New Guinea’s horticulture (fresh produce) industry is worth a staggering K2.5 billion annually, making it the biggest in the agriculture sector.
The concern here is that a large part of this, over K1 billion, is spent on imported fruits and vegetables that can be grown in the country.
If PNG can fix up the food chain and deliberately invest in cold storage facility infrastructure in strategic locations, supported by good policy initiatives, the country can do better.
On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, on the foothills of the great Mt Wilhelm – PNG’s highest mountain – PM Marape’s vision came one step closer to reality with the launching of the Kundiawa-Gembogl Agriculture Cold Supply Chain and SME Booster Project in Goglme, Gembogl.
It’s a multi-million-kina initiative spearheaded by Kundiawa-Gembogl MP and Police Minister William Onglo and FPDA, and supported by Marape.
This will involve establishment of cold storage facilities in Kundiawa-Gembogl, Lae and Port Moresby to buy and store fresh produce, particularly bulb onions and potatoes.
FPDA has generously given its Kainantu depot to Kundiawa-Gembogl to use.
The Kundiawa-Gembogl DDA bought two excavators to build roads, two tractors, three trucks, 10 motorcycles, four refrigerated containers, three sawmills, three vehicles and three generators to set the project in motion.
The 64 SME cooperatives in the district received K10,000 each as start-up capital.
On top of this was K200,000 worth of seeds.
The farmers of Kundiawa-Gembogl are already producing and completion of the Port Moresby cold storage facility will set them on the path to success.
Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon, Transport Minister William Samb and Health Minister Jelta Wong were impressed when shown the site of the cold storage facility at 8-Mile recently.
“What you can see is exactly what I’ve been talking about,” Simon said.
“When I started encouraging districts to set up buying points, this is exactly in line with the thinking of the Government.
Other districts to follow suit
“Districts and provinces will set up buying points to assist farmers, so that they can go back to their gardens, selling their produce at farm gate instead of having to look for markets.
“This is exactly what is happening in Kundiawa-Gembogl.”
Minister Simon encouraged all districts to set up buying points to assist farmers.
“We can get the private sector to do that, but when that happens, it’s about profit,” he added.
“When districts are involved, it’s about service.
“My appeal to all the districts is to do what the Kundiawa-Gembogl MP has done in terms of fresh produce.
“I have set up buying points in my Maprik District, but these are for buying cocoa and coffee, giving farmers the best price and getting their produce to markets.
“Up in the Highlands, there is so much fresh produce, so why continue to import?
“If we can bring all fresh produce from the Highlands here, that should cut down on the importation of vegetables from overseas.
“We can do it, but we are not providing the support and the market, to our farmers.
“This is what the Marape Government has been talking about and Kundiawa-Gembogl is doing it now.”
Goilala MP and Transporrt Minister William Samb, and Gazelle MP and Health Minister Jelta Wong, commended Onglo for the achievement and pledged to use the facility for their districts.
Onglo said the facility would be for the benefit of the whole country and stressed the importance of a cold supply chain.
“A cold supply chain is very important and you have to have freezer facilities along the way,” he said.
“What we will have here is a warehouse that will house 30-40 chiller containers.
“In that way, fresh crocodile meat or chicken and fish from places like Maprik, can come to Port Moresby.
“The Government, to this day, does not have chiller storage so what we will build here will be used by all districts.
“The advantage of other countries is that they have ready access to cold storage so they can bring fresh carrots, broccoli, and other produce from places like Australia and New Zealand into PNG.
“Why is it taking a week for a container of fresh produce from New Zealand to come here, when it is taking two weeks for a container from the Highlands to come here to Port Moresby?
Logistical nightmares
“The logistics nightmare is compounded by transportation along the Highlands Highway, storage in Lae, with very high costs of shipping to Port Moresby – more expensive than bringing in imports from New Zealand.
“My thinking is that the Government should eventually set up its own shipping service to help our local people.”
Onglo thanked Marape for subsiding the costs of freight for farmers.
“I’m thankful to the Government, and particularly Prime Minister Marape, for taking the initiative to push agriculture for our small people,” he said.

  • Malum Nalu works with the Office of the Prime Minister