New World Bank report investigates allocation of time and women’s participation in Papua New Guinea’s agricultural sector
PORT MORESBY, December 10 2018 – A World Bank study has found that when women in Papua New Guinea are empowered to make decisions in the sale of cocoa and coffee, their households ultimately benefit.
The Household Allocation and Efficiency of Time in PNG report, undertaken as part of the US$110.7 million World Bank co-financed Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project, analyses how domestic responsibilities impact the ability of women to allocate their labor to cultivate, harvest and process cocoa and coffee in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The findings of the report are being launched at a series of workshops in Goroka on 11 December 2018 and Kokopo on 13 December 2018.
The key message from the report is that men and women do not share the same activities or tasks within the household: men’s work is geared more towards cocoa or coffee production whereas women are more focused on other agricultural and off-farm activities and on domestic work such as cooking, washing, cleaning, and caring for other household members. This leaves women little time to engage in more value-added agricultural activities.
However, the results also show that household welfare outcomes are higher when women have more control over the sale of cocoa and coffee and the resulting income. More empowered women are also more likely to have an equal relationship with their male partner, with whom they are not afraid to disagree over household decision making.
“This report demonstrates that when women are given more equal control over domestic and financial decisions, as well as better access to technology such as mobile phones and the internet, there is a direct correlation with increased cocoa and coffee sales, as well as improvements in children’s health, nutrition, education and poverty reduction,” said Patricia Veevers-Carter, the World Bank’s Country Manager for PNG.
“We are proud that the Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project has delivered genuine economic benefit to thousands of families across PNG while helping to build PNG’s agricultural sector, and has also helped to provide a space for women to take on more leadership, ownership of financial and domestic decisions, and provided a positive model for similar programs in PNG.”
The Household Allocation and Efficiency of Time in PNG report was supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a result of a study in 2014, The Fruit of Her Labor undertaken jointly by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to promote gender equitable agribusiness in PNG. Previous studies have evaluated the ability of women to participate in agricultural sector value chains in PNG; however, this new report provides new insights on the gender division of labor in the cocoa and coffee sectors.
“These issues are key to understanding and ultimately improving the performance of agribusiness supply chains in PNG,” said Allan Oliver, the World Bank’s Senior Agricultural Specialist for East Asia and Pacific.
The Household Allocation and Efficiency of Time in Papua New Guinea report can be read in full at: https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/113871538723729835/pdf/130527-4-10-2018-15-26-10-PNGReport.pdf
Contacts:
in Port Moresby: Amanda Donigi, +675 321 7111, adonigi@worldbank.org
in Sydney: Tom Perry, +61 404 460 330, tperry@worldbank.org
