Training helps Kumice improve her farming skills

BERNICE Kumice’s father taught her about cocoa farming when she finished high school but in a few months, her life was turned upside down.
The 44-year-old from Bougainville lost her parents in 2000.
She put cocoa aside and was trained as a nurse, a profession she continued to pursue.
“We lost one parent in September and the other in December. I had not learnt enough from my father when he passed away,” she said.
Kumice lives in Tinputz with her children Bernisa, Beryl and Bevan and husband Benjamin who was a subsistence farmer before Bernice supported him to learn carpentry at college.
With Bernice working as a nurse, Benjamin self-employed and the family became heavily involved at the local surf club, their cocoa block languished in the background – rolling along, but not fulfilling its potential.
“I knew nothing about savings and budgets,” she said.
“Each fortnight we just spent. Same for cocoa, we sold, got the money and just spent without a proper budget.
“We did have our struggles about where and how we should get money to pay for school fees and timber to build our house.
“We just spent our money on unnecessary things and ended up regretting it, and then struggled to look for money again for the important things that we missed out on.”
An opportunity to make changes arose when Bernice heard about cocoa farming training being offered by Care International and supported by the governments of Australia and New Zealand through the Bougainville Partnership.
It covered hands-on block management techniques and looked at financial planning, budgeting and more equitable family decision making.
“When I heard about the training, it interested me because the training would help me to manage my own block,” she said. “Weeding, pruning techniques and spraying are some of the skills I’ve learned.
“My husband is very impressed, because I can now assist him in managing our cocoa block.
“It is a lot of work and he cannot work alone, so we share responsibilities and involve our children to work as a family.”
The training did more than improve the family’s cocoa farming – it changed the way they worked together as a unit.
“After the day’s work we discuss ideas as a couple,” she continued.
“We can now organise and manage our resources well.
“We feel that we can develop our community and raise our standards of living.”
The couple were also identified by Care International as model farmers and encouraged to share their knowledge on agricultural techniques.