Sepik River farmers in 8 remote villages had received training to upskill them to revive rundown cocoa blocks.
EU-STREIT PNG Programme builds the capacity of 722 lead farmers in remote rural communities through training on cocoa rehabilitation techniques, access to finance and the need to mainstreaming gender perspectives in value chain.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations, under the EU Funded UN Joint STREIT Programme, continues to improve the knowledge and skills of 722 lead farmers in cocoa bud grafting and block management techniques in three remote communities or LLGs in Angoram District.
The two bud grafting training involved 300 farmers in Pangin Village, Marienberg LLG, and two block management trainings for 422 farmers of Mupa Cocoa Group in Saparu Village of Yuat LLG and Sangriwa Village of Angoram LLG.
The trainees comprise 55 female youths, 89 women, 167 male youths and 411 men from eight villages along the Sepik River. The trainings enabled the individual lead farmers to pass on these skills to at least 10 other farmers in their communities, to reach 7000 beneficiaries.
The cocoa propagation techniques training are necessary to replace old trees which have been infested with the cocoa pod borer (CPB) pest, which resulted in low cocoa yields and reduced income for thousands of rural families in the Greater Sepik Region.
The block management trainings included practical sessions on different pruning methods and shade control that are crucial in the general routine maintenance of cocoa trees for high production of improved quality pods.
The Programme also brought along MiBank officers to open bank accounts and banking cards for farmers, including some mothers and girls, for the first time.