The role of agriculture in the PNG economy

摘要

Agriculture sustains more than 85 percent of PNG's population as the mainstay of the rural economy, producing all subsistence food and providing a base for income generation by the people. The agriculture sector provides employment for over 25 percent of the workforce in the formal sector; contributes 14 percent in foreign exchange earnings and 25 percent in gross domestic product (GDP); provides markets for the industries and services sector; and provides a source of capital, labour and products for the other sectors. However, the agriculture sector's contribution to GDP has declined from 33 percent in 1985 to 26 percent in 1998. Total export earnings from agriculture in 1998 were 1020.5 million PNG kina (PGK), an increase of 300 million PGK compared with 1997. In terms of total export earnings, agriculture contributed 40 percent to total earnings in 1998 compared with 25 percent in 1997. Exports are dominated by tree crops (coffee, cocoa, copra, oil palm, tea and rubber) and alternative crops including spices and essential oils. While exports of farm commodities have declined, imports of food items and general agricultural inputs have increased markedly over the past two decades. Export earnings are about 80 percent, on average, of the equivalent value of agricultural imports. The value of food imports from Australia, New Zealand and Asia increased from a little over 200 million PGK in 1991-92 to 325 million PGK in 1995. In 1998, the value of food imports rose by 25 percent (or 600 million PGK), even without any increase in the quantities imported due to the devaluation of the kina. This situation will continue unless the need to import food items is reversed, export tree crops and the livestock industries are rehabilitated and productivity is increased. It is a long-term objective of the government to improve the agriculture sector's role in the economy by instituting policies and strategies that will enhance a high level of productivity on a sustainable basis. Agriculture must be made viable in terms of food production, foreign exchange earnings, income generation and the creation of markets for the industrial sector, and must continue generating employment opportunities for the majority of the population.