Primary Industry, Agriculture, Livestock
and Fisheries
Enga is predominantly an agricultural society as about 80% of people’s livelihood is dependent on subsistence agriculture. Agriculture is regarded as the bedrock of the Engan society. People have been raising livestock and cultivating crops for many years using their inherited agricultural best practices and it is able to sustain their lives in the post Porgera era.
Therefore, the EPGDP embraces agriculture as the premier sector to sustain and drive our province towards the path of development and prosperity. The province also realises that as the province approaches the closure of the Porgera mine, a bigger share from the proceeds of the mine be diverted to build the structural foundation of the key agriculture, commerce and tourism sectors.
To maintain the balance between household food security and participation in the modern economy the EPGDP strategy is to strengthen primarily homestead food and livestock production and then cash crop production aimed at participating actively in the modern cash economy.
The current agriculture structure is that all EPG resources under ERI are focussed on maintaining Enga Cash Crop Depot, Enga Pyrethrum Factory, Kandep Wheat and Wapenamanda Coffee Factory. In other words Enga’s resources are concentrated on a few commercial agro business enterprises in isolation from rural household farmers and extension service centres that are crucial to sustaining these enterprises.
The EPGDP strategy is to encourage holistic household farming whereby local farmers will be mobilised to be engaged in more than one source of income for the household. For example members in a household may be engaged in six different activities like food and cash crops, animal husbandry, inland fish farming, wage earning activities and market sales at the same time. Selected cash crop production does not encompass the total rural population thus an integrated approach like the one mentioned above gives food security and enhances rural livelihood advancement. Not only that but it also encourages the people in the subsistence economy to rise up to a level where they are able to join the mass cash crop production stream eventually contributing to meet both domestic and international market demands.
Overall Agriculture and Livestock Sector
A key to poverty eradication and employment creation for Enga lies in the rapid transformation of the agricultural sector. The challenge of poverty requires a focus on the growth of the agrarian economy through:
- Programmes to promote household food security and commercial food crops through expanded smallholder production.
- Development of commercial cash crops through optimum use of the highest potential agricultural land.
- A focus on land redistribution and, in the longer term, land tenure reform to release land for poor households and for new commercial farming enterprises.
The dislocated agrarian economy of the five districts must be integrated into the wider Provincial economy through the promotion of commercial agriculture and as a source of raw material for agro-enterprises.
Goal | A vibrant agricultural sector that is responsive to both international and domestic markets for a diverse range of products and provides the best available income and job opportunities for the rural majority in Enga
Development Programs identified
In order that this sector becomes the driving force to resuscitate and kick start the agrarian economy at micro level, the following programs have been prioritized for implementation in the ten-year period. Some of the projects also have potentials to boost the micro economic level and may become export driven projects.
Revive and re-establish all Provincial Livestock Breeding Centres and cash crop seedling distribution centres.
Conduct training for all rural household farmers at the revived agriculture base camps
Encourage Coffee production at the smallholder level to boost output from Wapenamanda Coffee factory
Help rural farmers by setting up a rural agriculture subsidy scheme or a government grant to encourage food crop production.
Encourage food crop production at the household level to sustain food security and also for sale at the markets and at Enga Fresh Vegetable Depot.
Set up one coffee wet factory in Wapenamanda and one in Wabag
Revive Pyrethrum Production aimed at boosting output from Enga Pyrethrum factory output through extension services.
Promote livestock production at the household level as part of food security as well as for commercial purposes
Livestock (Sheep and Goat) Breeding and Stock Expansion
Twenty-five years of stable leadership and consistent administrative machinery have resulted in EPG attracting more foreign government and NGO donor agencies to invest in all sectors in the province. ’This has been our strength and a Key strategy for addressing our development agendas.
