Presentation of laptops projectors and accessories to provincial agricultural advisors.

Agriculture heads in the highlands agree to work together

Provincial agricultural advisors and other key partners in the highlands region have reaffirmed their commitment to work together with NARI to strengthen food and income security in the region in the face of climate change-driven events and other natural disasters. They agreed to work together to empower the farming and rural communities in the region are prepared to better cope with droughts, frosts, and other related stresses. The commitment was made during a two-day workshop held in Mt Hagen from 17 – 18 August.

The workshop was organised through a project on climate resilience that is being implemented by NARI in the highlands region. The workshop provided an opportunity for key players in the region to come together and identify priority threats from the changing climate on agriculture and identify key solutions that could be used to address these issues.

The meeting that was held at the Shine Inn Lodge, Dobel near Mt Hagen, had provincial agriculture advisors from the Eastern Highlands, Simbu, Jiwaka, Southern Highlands, and Enga in attendance. Hela was represented by Mr. James Komengi, from the United Church, a CBO active in driving agriculture in the province. Participants of key partners include representatives from Adventist Disaster and Relief Agency, Care International, and Oxfam.

Key areas discussed in the workshop covered: concerns and needs for provinces; identifying gaps and approaches; communication, networking, and information sharing; capacity development; and providing early warning and seasonal forecast.

While acknowledging that the provinces have their own in-house issues, they agreed to work together with NARI to pilot some of the improved technologies available and the development of their capacities through the support of the project. Formal agreements for provinces to work together with NARI had been established by way of MOUs with the respective provinces.  As a start-up and get to communication going, all provinces were allocated a laptop, printer, projector, and other accessories.

Related Posts

43 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *