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Sustainability of Agriculture in Bougainville Province, Papua New Guinea
Abstract and Figures
This report presents the findings of a study of village agriculture conducted in Bougainville Province of Papua New Guinea in September-October 2002.The purpose of the study was to identify problems with current land use for subsistence food production; to assess the sustainability of village food production systems; to identify locations where stress is now occurring or may occur in the medium term (5-15 years); to assess the likely impact of increased cash cropping on food production; and to make recommendations for research and development activities to address any problems identified. Most parts of the province were visited over a six week period. Discussions were held with villagers in both formal and informal meetings, and numerous food gardens and plots of cash crops were inspected.
Pressure is being exerted on land and the food production system by rapid population growth and, in some locations, by extensive plantings of export cash crops. In general, the supply of food is adequate in most parts of the province. Nevertheless, there are actual or potential problems for food security in some locations. This is particularly the case on a number of small islands. The population densities on a number of islands are among the highest in PNG. There is considerable stress in the Carteret Islands where carbohydrate food is chronically scarce, cash income is low, timber for fuel and construction is scarce and some environmental damage is occurring. There is also stress on Pinipel Island in the Nissan Group and in the four islands in the group west of Buka. Food supply is just adequate, but there are shortages of firewood and timber for construction, and food security will be inadequate if the population continues to increase rapidly without other changes.
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... Yet, they also provide income for a third of the world's population (largely in the Global South) and are a fundamental determinant of both human and environmental health. In Melanesia, smallholder farming systems have historically provided livelihoods and sustenance for the vast majority of the population through low input and sustainable farming practices [2]. Over time, however, this model of food production has faced growing pressures associated with agrarian transition and global environmental change. ...
... In this study, we focus on Bougainville, PNG, a case Table 1. Examples of shocks and stresses present in Melanesian food systems [2,4,14,15]. ...
... The reduction in cocoa production has also outlasted the conflict, with respondents stating local production being nowhere near what it was prior to the conflict. As of 2002, Bougainville was producing roughly 20% of the cocoa it produced prior to the conflict [2]. Many respondents stated they had roughly half the amount of cocoa plants they had before the conflict, and production rates were higher per plant prior to the conflict as the cocoa pod borer had not yet infested the area. ...
Classical agricultural development paradigms prioritise basic requirements such as agronomic, caloric and economic needs for the target environment and for beneficiaries. As challenges associated with climate change, globalisation, and population growth compound and amplify one another, project scope must be broadened to take a holistic food systems approach that includes sociocultural and historical contexts, as well as climate impacts as underpinning project design. In this paper, we illustrate the importance of adopting a food systems development paradigm rather than a classical agricultural development paradigm through a case study in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. The case uses Rich Picturing, targeted and focus-group interviews, and garden visits in remote Bougainville; it provides a poignant illustration of the importance of this more holistic perspective given the historical inefficacy of food systems development, as well as Papua New Guinea’s exposure to a plethora of compounding environmental, social, economic, and political stresses and shocks that demonstrate the important linkages between ecosystem services and health. The study aims to demonstrate how including localised gender dynamics, climate vulnerability, rapidly morphing social norms, and climate analogue environments is critical in building food systems resilience and is key to designing policies, programs, and development projects that more effectively address environmental, sociocultural, and health considerations. Building on the inadequacies in agricultural development efforts previously documented for Papua New Guinea, we propose an improved framing for food systems development and identify areas for future research.
... Most Bougainvilleans subsist on small food gardens, local fisheries, and some cash cropping. Bougainville Island has significant ore deposits, though these have not been extracted since the 1980s due to the Bougainville conflict [15]. Other sectors are gaining traction (such as education and tourism), though agriculture remains the predominant livelihood source. ...
... As the land area is relatively small and the population are primarily smallholders, the farming intensity is increasing with population growth. Fallow periods are declining, which is causing ecological degradation that will have significant long-term impacts [15]. Along with an increase in farming intensity, population growth is also impacting fisheries and bushmeat availability. ...
... Several cooperatives and women's groups have been formed amongst community members to share and generate knowledge and to help improve market access. At a localised level, farmers have also been reported to be increasing irrigation and crop rotations to improve soil fertility [15]. ...
The Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, conducted an independence referendum in 2019, which resulted in the region seeking a pathway to complete independence. One of the requirements in establishing independence is ensuring “good governance,” an important facet of which is establishing a stable and adequate food supply. This is framed globally as achieving Sustainable Development Goal Two (SDG #2) to end hunger and malnutrition. This article seeks to assess the measures that government and major donors have taken to implement SDG #2 in Bougainville using a pressure-state-response framework and desktop-based risk assessment to identify areas for further work. The investigation aims to identify effective policy focus areas in order to better implement SDG #2, namely, prioritising civil conflict avoidance, facilitating adaptation planning for climate regime shifts, and ensuring sustainable agricultural intensity and fisheries extraction. Based on these, recommendations for good governance include sustainable and equitable long-term interventions that reduce the risk of political disturbance and environmental degradation. As a result of engaging in this case, readers will be able to apply similar methodologies to inform development decisions in postconflict contexts. Bougainville faces similar challenges to many Pacific islands, including the impacts from climate change, food insecurity, conflict, population growth, and changing land tenure. This case can be extrapolated to these greater contexts.
... Takú Atoll is located in the easternmost extension of Papua New Guinea (PNG), approximately 265 km ENE from Bougainville Island, at 4°45′S and 157°E (Figure 1a). The atoll is administrated by the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and forms culturally a Polynesian Outlier-atoll in Melanesia [37,38]. The rim of the atoll is almost continuous and roughly circular in shape, with a diameter of 11 km in its northeast-southwest extension and 12.5 km from northwest to southeast. ...
... The latest significant flooding of the atoll occurred in December 2008 and resulted in considerable geomorphological shoreline changes on Nukutoa Island [21]. Bourke and Betitis [38] report on beach erosion on Takú Island, the southeastern most islet on Takú Atoll. In contrast to the island of Nukutoa, anthropogenic alterations of the shoreline are not obvious on Takú Island, and hence, Bourke and Betitis [38] argue that beach erosion on this and some smaller islets may be a consequence of sea-level rise. ...
... Bourke and Betitis [38] report on beach erosion on Takú Island, the southeastern most islet on Takú Atoll. In contrast to the island of Nukutoa, anthropogenic alterations of the shoreline are not obvious on Takú Island, and hence, Bourke and Betitis [38] argue that beach erosion on this and some smaller islets may be a consequence of sea-level rise. ...
Atoll islands are subject to a variety of processes that influence their geomorphological development. Analysis of historical shoreline changes using remotely sensed images has become an efficient approach to both quantify past changes and estimate future island response. However, the detection of long-term changes in beach width is challenging mainly for two reasons: first, data availability is limited for many remote Pacific islands. Second, beach environments are highly dynamic and strongly influenced by seasonal or episodic shoreline oscillations. Consequently, remote-sensing studies on beach morphodynamics of atoll islands deal with dynamic features covered by a low sampling frequency. Here we present a study of beach dynamics for nine islands on Taku Atoll, Papua New Guinea, over a seven-decade period. A considerable chronological gap between aerial photographs and satellite images was addressed by applying a new method that reweighted positions of the beach limit by identifying "outlier" shoreline positions. On top of natural beach variability observed along the reweighted beach sections, we found that one third of the analyzed islands show a statistically significant decrease in reweighted beach width since 1943. The total loss of beach area for all islands corresponds to 44% of the initial beach area. Variable shoreline trajectories suggest that changes in beach width on Taku Atoll are dependent on local control (that is, human activity and longshore sediment transport). Our results show that remote imagery with a low sampling frequency may be sufficient to characterize prominent morphological changes in planform beach configuration of reef islands.
Bougainville is one of the cases of secession present in the Pacific region. Its uniqueness lies not only in the complexity of the case but mainly in the fact that the region has agreed on an independence referendum with its parent state—Papua New Guinea. The contribution presents local, regional, and other impacts of the case development and factors regarding its process of recognition.
This report is a guide for cocoa and coconut research and extension activities in Papua New Guinea. It supports the planning and spatial prioritisation of extension activities and the design of a national network of research trials.
Improved methods for the classification of agroecological zones and productive potential under three land management scenarios are presented. Such methods are designed to utilise the most reliable natural resource and land use data available for the country.
Data and maps describing cocoa production trends, agroecological zones, productive potential, production constraints, population densities, cultural interest and market access are presented and discussed. Such information is used to assess opportunities for provincial cocoa development and make recommendations on research trial locations and extension priorities.
This volume presents descriptions of village agricultural systems in Bougainville Province of Papua New Guinea (now Autonomous Region of Bougainville). It is based on detailed studies in a number of parts of the province; interviews with 23 people in 1996 during the civil war in the province; and limited field surveys in 1980 and 1992. Subsequent extensive fieldwork by the first named author in 2002 confirmed much of the details in this volume. Some information presented in this volume, which was based on older literature, particularly from the atolls (Agricultural System number 2) was found to be less accurate.
Agricultural systems were delineated based on a number of criteria: type of fallow vegetation; period that land was fallowed before being used again; the number of consecutive food crops planted before land was fallowed; the most important staple food crops; garden and crop segregation; soil fertility maintenance techniques other than natural regrowth fallows; and cash crops. Where an 'agricultural system' occurred across a provincial boundary, a new system was created in the adjacent province. As well as data on over 100 agricultural parameters, information is presented on how the surveys were conducted, how boundaries with adjacent systems were defined, other notes, how the data corresponds with that from a National Nutrition Survey and relevant publications on the area. Maps of 15 key parameters are included, as well as the mapping units ('agricultural systems'). The data is also presented in tabular form (as codes) and there are three different listings of rural villages indexed by agricultural system.
This volume presents descriptions of village agricultural systems in West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea. It is based on detailed studies in a number of parts of the province and a series of traverses throughout the province between 1972 and 1995. Agricultural systems were delineated based on a number of criteria: type of fallow vegetation; period that land was fallowed before being used again; the number of consecutive food crops planted before land was fallowed; the most important staple food crops; garden and crop segregation; soil fertility maintenance techniques other than natural regrowth fallows; and cash crops. Where an 'agricultural system' occurred across a provincial boundary, a new system was created in the adjacent province. As well as data on over 100 agricultural parameters, information is presented on how the surveys were conducted, how boundaries with adjacent systems were defined, other notes, how the data corresponds with that from a National Nutrition Survey and relevant publications on the area. Maps of 15 key parameters are included, as well as the mapping units ('agricultural systems'). The data is also presented in tabular form (as codes) and there are three different listings of rural villages indexed by agricultural system.
The Carterets, one of the most densely populated atolls in the Pacific, lie north east of Papua New Guinea and are experiencing environmental problems that prevent the inhabitants supporting themselves from their own resources. Resettlement on the east coast of Bougainville began in 1984, and further setbacks prompted more emigration in 1989. At some time in the future the entire population may have to be moved. There are serious implications for other atolls as sea-levels continue to rise. -D.G.Price
The experience of Nukumanu Atoll, a Polynesian outlier in eastern Papua New Guinea, bears on this discussion. Male and female worlds on Nukumanu are radically bifurcated. Yet, in contrast with many Oceanic cultures and societies, any masculine bias in its systems of rank is very much attenuated. Furthermore, symbolic definitions of gender and sex identity appear to have changed very little since precontact times. Nonetheless, much change has taken place in allocation of productive tasks over a century of European contact, particularly with the transition from subsistence horticulture to dependence on imported foods; and as a result of changes in the economic system, activities traditionally associated with women have declined in importance while those defined as masculine endeavors have increased. -from Author