Examining women's business acumen in Papua New
Guinea: Working with women smallholders in
horticulture
Katja Mikhailovich, Barbara Pamphilon, Lalen Simeon, Barbara Chambers,
Julio Romero
University of Canberra, Pacific Adventist University, NARI, Baptist Union
Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
http://pngwomen.estem-uc.edu.au/
Project activities
Baseline
Activities
Implementation
Development
Activities
Continuous
Research and
Evaluation
Baseline survey
Capacity building
Annual village
studies
Participatory
community
workshops
Exploring family
roles workshops
Evaluation of
training activities
Interviews
Basic financial
literacy training
Ethnographic case
studies
Needs analysis
Horticulture
training
Trialing new
training processes
Baseline methods and participation
• Interviews: 48 community leaders
• Participatory community
workshops: 333 men and women
• Capacity building: 62 local
community educators
• Households survey: 329 women
heads of households
• Family teams training: 440 male
and female heads of household
• Needs assessment: 77 youth
Education (women)
Sell mostly at main market
100%
50
80%
Percent
60
Elementary
30
Primary
74%
60%
42%
40%
16%
20%
20
Secondary
10
College/tertiary
0%
Kumbareta
Kwinkya
Tinganagalip Vunapalading
Village
0
Kumbareta
Kwinkya
Tinganagalip Vunapalading
Village
Median income
600
500
465
500
400
Kina
Percent
40
91%
280
300
233
200
200
120
155
All sources
100
100
0
Kumbareta
Food crops
Kwinkya
Tinganagalip Vunapalading
Village
Gender
Regional/geographic
Economic
Contextual factors
impacting upon
women smallholders
Social/Family
Cultural
Opportunities and Challenges
Issue
Challenges
Opportunities
Kumbareta
Road to main market
Limited agricultural training
Low levels education and
Low literacy
Limited financial literacy
High school
Improved road
Training centre
Income diversification (New coffee and
rice projects)
Value adding to food crops
Technology uptake (mobile banking)
Distance to main market
Land pressure
Impact of CPB
Return to cocoa production
Attitudes to planning
Women’s cooperatives
Diversification of income (CPB resistant
plants)
Value adding to food crops
Group loans/ micro-credit
Western
Highlands
Tinganagalip
East New
Britain