WB expects more farmers in agro partnership concept

 THE World Bank expects more farmers being involved in its agriculture partnership programme in the country.

The bank said its Papua New Guinea productive partnerships in agriculture, which was rolled out in 2010, had since benefited more than 27,000 farmers mostly in cocoa and coffee sector.

The project aimed to improve the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa and coffee producers by providing support and funding with the partnership of local businesses.

It is being run in East New Britain, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and the Highlands region.

“The project is making progress towards the achievement of the project’s development objective,” the World Bank said. “The overall implementation is progressing with some delay. 

The number of partnerships under implementation has increased to 33, involving 27,352 beneficiary farmers and an additional 23 partnerships are under preparation involving 21,500 beneficiary farmers.

“With the scaling up of the cocoa partnerships, a further 11,000 beneficiaries will be added, bringing the expected total number of beneficiaries to 59,852 farmers, which is almost equal to the end project’s target of 60,000 beneficiaries. 

“There continues to be a high level of enthusiasm from lead partners and beneficiaries, and increases are beginning to be seen in coffee and cocoa yields and in household income.”