Improving marketing efficiency, postharvest management and value addition of sweetpotato in Papua New Guinea

Title
Improving marketing efficiency, postharvest management and value addition of sweetpotato in Papua New Guinea
Publication Date
2013
Author(s)
Chang, Christie
Irving, Donald
Lutulele, Robert
Kornolong, Birte
Be'Soer, Lilly
Type of document
Report
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
Place of publication
Canberra, Australia
Series
ACIAR Publication
UNE publication id
une:16301
Abstract
The overall aim of this project was to improve the livelihoods of farmers and other participants in the sweetpotato supply chain in PNG, and the potato supply chain in Australia, by improving marketing efficiency, postharvest management, and value addition. The project aimed to address issues in heavy product losses and high costs of marketing in long distance sweetpotato marketing from the PNG highlands to coastal markets. The project began with a detailed mapping of the social, economic, and technical components of the PNG sweetpotato supply chains. While the social and economic components focused on relational, institutional, and cost issues, the technical component focused on issues related to postharvest management and value addition. Supply chain mapping was done through a series of stakeholder consultations from farm to market, and consignment trials. The results indicated that there were serious concerns regarding packaging (bags too big), postharvest handling (high product losses), transport infrastructure (high costs, poor roads and no specialised transport system), and supply chain coordination (no collaboration or communication between potential partners). For women, there were gender-specific issues related to personal safety, poor market facilities, and inequality in the division of labour and the distribution of income within the household. Technical issues were addressed through packaging trials, a curing trial, disease identification to find locally appropriate methods to reduce produce losses, and an exploration of options for sweetpotato processing. Other issues were addressed through: financial literacy training and linking farmers to financial institutions to improve farmers' access to credit, finding ways to consolidate sweetpotato bags and link farmers to transporters and buyers, and providing training in marketing and financial literacy to improve women's participation in sweetpotato marketing.
Link
ISBN
9781922137340

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