Trainees attending the EU-STREIT Programme's organised cocoa training in North Wosera LLG, ESP

Moving forward with its mission to support and empower rural families and communities in the Greater Sepik Region who live on cocoa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the EU Funded UN Joint STREIT PNG Programme and in partnership with PNG Cocoa Board and East Sepik and Sandaun Provincial Divisions of Agriculture and Livestock, provided technical assistance to 1705 rural farmers from five Local Level Governments (LLGs) with tailored trainings on cocoa rehabilitation and cocoa block management.

The participants including a good representation from interested women and youths from very remote villages in Ambunti and North Wosera LLGs in East Sepik, and Green River, Walsa and Amanab LLGs in Sandaun Province, received intensive training courses as Trainers-of-Trainers, enabled to impart the acquired knowledge and skills to further number of fellow farmers in rural communities.

Staged in sequence, two types of training were delivered in each venue. First was on bud grafting to learn how to propagate Cocoa Pod Borer (CPB) tolerant seedlings, as a basis for growing quality cloned seedlings which followed with a practical session where each participant attempted bud grafting with five root stocks provided by the Programme, this is to ensure that the farmers gain practical skills of budding so they can apply the techniques in their cocoa blocks. The second part was field management where different types of pruning was demonstrated to farmers in cocoa blocks, to look after the existing as well newly planted cocoa trees, this to make sure that tree crops are protected against disease and pest infestation and to increase the cocoa yield.

“The invasion of CPB pest in the 1980s contributed to the decline in cocoa production resulting in low production and income for many rural families. Many communities abandoned their cocoa blocks as a result and these trainings is aimed to revive these cocoas,” explained FAO National Cocoa Production Officer Mr Michael Lames, who facilitated three sessions on bud grafting and three on field management with 646 farmers in Aplatak village, Ambunti LLG, East Sepik Province.

With these newly acquired skills, the participants are set to replace old cocoa trees and to improve on their post-harvest production practices.

“Cocoa is everything for us, the rural people here, and I’m very happy to learn something new things like how to control shade in my blocks,” said female farmer and mother, Mrs Doris Jivis, who was part of 309 farmers in three field management trainings hosted in Blamda village, North Wosera LLG in Wosera-Gawi District, East Sepik Province.

For rural farmers of Sandaun Province, the three trainings on cocoa propagation and another three on field management which pulled together 750 female, male, and youth participants was a long awaited blessing for many who crossed rivers and mountains, while others use dug-out canoes to travel to the training sites.

“It was an eye-opener and moral boosting for these farmers and it is exciting to see them equipped with an updated knowledge and skills on proper propagation and field management practices so they can better cultivate cocoa on their vast and fertile land to earn a decent income to support their livelihood and community,” said Mr Ismael Gar, the FAO National Cocoa Production Officer based in Vanimo.

Mr Gar added that GPS mapping and field preparation was undertaken as well in the training sites for establishment of cocoa bud wood gardens that will be supported by the FAO-led EU-STREIT PNG Programme.

To bring digital and cashless banking services to these remote areas, MiBank, under a LoA with EU-STREIT PNG, also joined in the training sites and explained on the importance of savings which resulted in many farmers including women and girls opening a bank account for the first time and were issued with banking account on-the-spot.

As of January 2022, the FAO-led EU-STREIT PNG Programme has provided support and technical assistance to 361 villages and rural communities on cocoa value chain component across the Greater Sepik and:
• Developed the capacity of 5065 cocoa farmers (including 929 women and 1989 youths) as master trainers (Trainers of Trainers) to provide grassroot extension services on cocoa seedling production and management practices.
• Trained 3416 cocoa farmers (including 498 women and 911 youths) on rehabilitation of blocks and gradual replacement of old and senile trees with hybrid/clones/chupon bud grafting.
• Promoted and capacitated 2631 cocoa farmers (including 333 women and 714 youths) to adopt sustainable agriculture/climate smart practices in cocoa blocks.
• Upgraded the capacities and skills of 88 cocoa MSMEs on enterprise development and business planning skills, including access to financial services, enhanced financial literacy.
• Supported and facilitated the formation of 90 cocoa clusters/groups – covering 794 beneficiaries including 129 women and 240 youths.

The EU-STREIT PNG, being implemented as a UN joint Programme (FAO as leading agency, and ILO, ITU, UNCDF and UNDP as implementing partners), is the largest grant-funded Programme of the European Union in the country and the Pacific region. It focuses on increasing sustainable and inclusive economic development of rural areas through Increasing the economic returns and opportunities from cocoa, vanilla and fishery value chains and strengthening and improving the efficiency of value chain enablers including the business environment and supporting sustainable, climate-proof transport and energy infrastructure development.

EU-STREIT Programme in Papua New Guinea, in collaboration with its local partners, capacitates 1705 cocoa farmers in the Sepik Region, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to rehabilitate and revive old, infested cocoa blocks, and restore their life-saving cocoa production.