The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation

Although the economy of Papua New Guinea is heavily influenced by the oil and natural gas sector, which accounts for 30 percent of GDP and most of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, small-scale agriculture continues to be the major source of livelihoods for most of the population. Much of the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Diao, Xinshen, Dorosh, Paul A., Escalante, Luis Enrique, Pradesha, Angga, Thurlow, James, Junyan, Tian
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151858
_version_ 1855539317763473408
author Diao, Xinshen
Dorosh, Paul A.
Escalante, Luis Enrique
Pradesha, Angga
Thurlow, James
Junyan, Tian
author_browse Diao, Xinshen
Dorosh, Paul A.
Escalante, Luis Enrique
Junyan, Tian
Pradesha, Angga
Thurlow, James
author_facet Diao, Xinshen
Dorosh, Paul A.
Escalante, Luis Enrique
Pradesha, Angga
Thurlow, James
Junyan, Tian
author_sort Diao, Xinshen
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Although the economy of Papua New Guinea is heavily influenced by the oil and natural gas sector, which accounts for 30 percent of GDP and most of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, small-scale agriculture continues to be the major source of livelihoods for most of the population. Much of the food crop production (particularly starchy staples such as sweet potatoes, cassava, yams and sago) is not traded internationally; however, oil palm, coffee and cocoa are major exports. A large share of agricultural production undergoes little value-added through processing and much of it is consumed by farm households themselves. Thus, there would appear to be substantial scope for increases in employment and incomes through further development of the broader agrifood system, including agroprocessing, trade and transport, and food services. Subsistence farming typically dominates agriculture during the earliest stages of development; as agricultural productivity rises; however, farmers start to supply surplus production to markets, thus creating job opportunities for workers in the nonfarm economy both within and outside of agrifood sectors (Haggblade, Hazell, and Dorosh 2007). Rising rural incomes generate demand for more diverse products, leading to more processing, packaging, transporting, trading, and other nonfarm activities. In the early stages of agricultural transformation, the agriculture sector serves as an engine of rural and national economic growth. Eventually, urbanization, the nonfarm economy, and nonagricultural incomes play more dominant roles in propelling agrifood system development, with urban and rural nonfarm consumers creating most of the demand for agricultural outputs via value chains connecting rural areas to towns and cities (Dorosh and Thurlow 2013). The exact nature of this transformation process varies across countries because of the diverse structure of their economies and the unique growth trajectories of their various agrifood and nonfood subsectors. This paper describes the current and changing structure of PNG’s agrifood system (AFS) and evaluates the potential contribution of different value chains to accelerate agricultural transformation and inclusiveness. We start by offering a simple conceptual framework of the AFS and then compare PNG’s AFS to that of other countries at different stages of development. We go on to disaggregate PNG’s AFS across agricultural value chains, taking into consideration their different market structures and historical contribution to economic growth and transformation. Finally, we use a forward-looking economywide model to assess the diverse contributions that specific value chains can make to each of a set of broad development outcomes. We conclude by summarizing our main findings.
format Artículo preliminar
id CGSpace151858
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1518582026-01-06T20:09:44Z The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation Diao, Xinshen Dorosh, Paul A. Escalante, Luis Enrique Pradesha, Angga Thurlow, James Junyan, Tian agrifood systems crop production households livelihoods value chains agricultural production Although the economy of Papua New Guinea is heavily influenced by the oil and natural gas sector, which accounts for 30 percent of GDP and most of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, small-scale agriculture continues to be the major source of livelihoods for most of the population. Much of the food crop production (particularly starchy staples such as sweet potatoes, cassava, yams and sago) is not traded internationally; however, oil palm, coffee and cocoa are major exports. A large share of agricultural production undergoes little value-added through processing and much of it is consumed by farm households themselves. Thus, there would appear to be substantial scope for increases in employment and incomes through further development of the broader agrifood system, including agroprocessing, trade and transport, and food services. Subsistence farming typically dominates agriculture during the earliest stages of development; as agricultural productivity rises; however, farmers start to supply surplus production to markets, thus creating job opportunities for workers in the nonfarm economy both within and outside of agrifood sectors (Haggblade, Hazell, and Dorosh 2007). Rising rural incomes generate demand for more diverse products, leading to more processing, packaging, transporting, trading, and other nonfarm activities. In the early stages of agricultural transformation, the agriculture sector serves as an engine of rural and national economic growth. Eventually, urbanization, the nonfarm economy, and nonagricultural incomes play more dominant roles in propelling agrifood system development, with urban and rural nonfarm consumers creating most of the demand for agricultural outputs via value chains connecting rural areas to towns and cities (Dorosh and Thurlow 2013). The exact nature of this transformation process varies across countries because of the diverse structure of their economies and the unique growth trajectories of their various agrifood and nonfood subsectors. This paper describes the current and changing structure of PNG’s agrifood system (AFS) and evaluates the potential contribution of different value chains to accelerate agricultural transformation and inclusiveness. We start by offering a simple conceptual framework of the AFS and then compare PNG’s AFS to that of other countries at different stages of development. We go on to disaggregate PNG’s AFS across agricultural value chains, taking into consideration their different market structures and historical contribution to economic growth and transformation. Finally, we use a forward-looking economywide model to assess the diverse contributions that specific value chains can make to each of a set of broad development outcomes. We conclude by summarizing our main findings. 2024-08-23 2024-08-26T15:16:54Z 2024-08-26T15:16:54Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151858 en Open Access application/pdf application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Diao, Xinshen; Dorosh, Paul A.; Escalante, Luis Enrique; Pradesha, Angga; and Junyan, Tian. 2024. The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation. IFPRI Working Paper August 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151858
spellingShingle agrifood systems
crop production
households
livelihoods
value chains
agricultural production
Diao, Xinshen
Dorosh, Paul A.
Escalante, Luis Enrique
Pradesha, Angga
Thurlow, James
Junyan, Tian
The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation
title The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation
title_full The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation
title_fullStr The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation
title_full_unstemmed The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation
title_short The agrifood system in PNG: Structure and drivers of transformation
title_sort agrifood system in png structure and drivers of transformation
topic agrifood systems
crop production
households
livelihoods
value chains
agricultural production
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151858
work_keys_str_mv AT diaoxinshen theagrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT doroshpaula theagrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT escalanteluisenrique theagrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT pradeshaangga theagrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT thurlowjames theagrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT junyantian theagrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT diaoxinshen agrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT doroshpaula agrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT escalanteluisenrique agrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT pradeshaangga agrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT thurlowjames agrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation
AT junyantian agrifoodsysteminpngstructureanddriversoftransformation