Assessing the potential for expanding vegetable production in Central Province, Papua New Guinea

It has been commonly assumed that most of the vegetable supply in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea, comes from the PNG highlands and from overseas, because Port Moresby and most parts of Central Province are too dry and infertile for vegetable production. However, contrary to that assumption, a market survey conducted in 2008 found that in fact nearly 90% of vegetable supplies come from Central Province, and particularly from smallholders in peri urban areas around Port Moresby. Demand for fresh produce in Port Moresby has been growing due to population and economic growth and is expected to grow significantly in coming years and into the foreseeable future as a result of the PNG LNG project and other mining and agricultural development projects around the country. The objective of this paper was therefore to assess the potential for increasing vegetable production in Central Province, by carrying out a preliminary feasibility study based on informant interviews, field observations and a literature review.