1. WWW.NETWORKKOKODA.ORG
Honouring their legacy
Honouring their legacy
Honouring their legacyHonouring their legacy Honouring their legacyHonouring their legacy
Agriculture is a key link in uniting subsistence commu-
nities which are often wracked by inter-clan suspicions
and jealousies. It is a key gateway to improved nutrition
and local business development in a country where
more than 80% of the population rely on subsistence
agriculture and have limited educational opportunities.
Informal research at the boarding schools we support
on the Sogeri Plateau has revealed that students do
not regard agriculture as a preferred subject as they
view it as a subsistence necessity. They prefer subjects
that will enhance their employment opportunities in
the hospitality industry and the professions.
A major impediment to agricultural development in
remote villages along the Kokoda Trail is limited access
to markets. When we first became engaged with the
area in the early 1990s Milne Bay Air (since rebadged
as Airlines PNG) used to operate a thrice weekly ‘milk-
run’ between Port Moresby-Menari-Efogi-Kagi-Kokoda
to transport local produce to markets in the nation’s
capital. Village airfields were crowded with people and
produce on scheduled flight days.
Mining and gas developments over the past decade
have diverted PNG airlines towards meeting the more
lucrative demands of industry. Kokoda Trail villagers
have therefore reverted to subsistence crops to meet
the need of their local clans.
The Sogeri area used to be the vegetable garden/sal-
ad bowl area for our troops in Port Moresby during the
war. It has great potential to meet a greater share of
the increasing demand in the National Capital tomor-
row if local communities can be encouraged to work
together.
Network Kokoda has facilitated this process by en-
gaging a PNG graduate of the University of Natural
Resources and Environment in Popondetta as a Field
Manager. Market gardens have since been estab-
lished at the Sogeri National High School and Iaowari
High School and an agricultural learning centre for
local communities has been established on the Sogeri
Plateau. Up to 1200 boarding students are now
receiving fresh produce on their daily menu as a result
and they are gaining a greater awareness of agriculture
as a result of their involvement in the program.
Local clan leaders on the Sogeri Plateau have ap-
proached the Network Kokoda Field Manager over the
past two years to seek assistance in developing similar
gardens in their villagers and in getting their produce to
markets. An outreach program has been established
involving partnerships based on mutual obligation with
Network Kokoda providing a seed nursery, seedlings,
technical advice, transport and cold storage. Clan
leaders provide land and labour. As of 1 January 2016
Network Kokoda has six villages on the Sogeri Plateau
now under production.
In 2014 Network Kokoda secured a long-term lease on
a hectare of land at Sogeri for an agricultural training
centre. The facility will be officially opened in April
2016 and will be used for practical programs in agricul-
ture as well as skill development programs relating to
marketing, cooking, sewing, budgeting and personal/
community leadership.
Network Kokoda are currently developing partnerships
with the PNG National Agricultural Research Institute,
the Fresh Produce Development Agency, the Central
Provincial Government and the Koiari Local Level Gov-
ernment Association. Memorandums of Understanding
will be established with each agency in April 2016.
Agriculture