Over 100 farmers from the Chingwam Cooperative at Rangiampum village, in the Markham Valley, have received much needed training in financial literacy.
The training was delivered jointly by MiBank and Niugini Strategic Services Ltd in conjunction with Trukai Industries.
The farmers learnt the fundamentals of financial literacy, including budgeting for essential household expenses, savings advice, money management and basic banking including opening a bank account.
Rice development manager for Trukai Industries, Humphrey Saese said the training empowers the locals to work towards improving their livelihood and wealth through savings strategies.
Saese highlighted that the future is very bright for the local farmers on the back of the large scale rice farming and plans for expansion in place.
He said with that opportunity comes a responsibility from the farmers to ensure they are contributing positively to improving local living standards.
With Chingwam Rice Growers Cooperative and Trukai establishing a 500-hectare rice plantation near Rangiampum, the farmers were previously taught how to grow commercial rice crops.
The plantation will be progressively expanded up to 1,500-2,000 hectares over a number of seasons, pending relevant agreements.