Enhancing the roles of women and the whole family in cocoa production

Dr Phil Keane, Dr David Guest, Barbara Pamphilon

Research output: Book/ReportReports

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Abstract

Background
Women farmers are key agricultural workers in PNG. They grow essential subsistence crops, generate income from surplus crops as well as provide a lot of the labour inputs in cocoa production. Women also play significant roles in the informal economy, in community networks and as caregivers for children, the elderly and the ill. Therefore for sustainable cocoa production, the role of women also needs to be sustainable, for the women themselves and for the future of the family livelihoods. The Cocoa projects have found that in order to obtain good production from cocoa farms, they need to be managed with the same day-to-day attention that women have always given to food crops. Men have traditionally done only occasional work in food gardens (clearing the bush, some planting, some harvesting) and they have transferred this attitude to cocoa, which leads to very poor cocoa results. A major impediment to improved cocoa production in PNG is that women, who are expected to do a lot of the work in cocoa farming, are not rewarded adequately for their work and so don’t contribute as much as they could or as much as is necessary to intensify cocoa management to the extent needed to control the two most important pest/disease problems of cocoa, Black Pod (Phytophthora spp) and Cocoa Pod Borer (Conopomorpha cramerella) . The FFT project has demonstrated the importance of families working as a family unit in order to plan and work together to develop more effective, sustainable and gender equitable farming and sales practices.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationAustralia
PublisherAustralian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Commissioning bodyAustralian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Number of pages17
Publication statusPublished - May 2020

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