Over 2,000 farmers in Bougainville are benefiting from a project that aims to increase cocoa production, get better farm-gate prices and help farmers find more sources of income and also has an important pilot health component. The project works from centres in Buka, Arawa and Buin, reaching people in 33 communities.
The Bougainville Cocoa Project, funded under the PNG-Australian Partnership, is led by the University of Sydney and takes a multi-pronged approach to encouraging a number of commercial activities in cocoa households in Bougainville and improve their wellbeing.
With the project’s support, villagers are now making cocoa-based products. The project has helped villagers get grinders for turning cocoa beans into cocoa powder - the essential ingredient in chocolate confectionary.
Experimenting with chocolate moulds at home in Buka..
Professor David Guest who leads the project said, “We are encouraging farmers to look more broadly at income sources that complement cocoa and some of the villagers in our project are experimenting with making chocolate cakes and drinks.
Elmah Maxwell is a local chocolate maker who says, “This is a great opportunity for us to diversify our income. I am going to try different chocolate drinks and chocolate ring cakes.”
Elizabeth Pisiai is the Coordinator of the project in South Bougainville. A young mother with training from UNRE and a commitment to helping smallholder cocoa farmers, she has matured to a skilled and inspiring leader. Elizabeth learned to drive and now crosses rivers driving project vehicles confidently. She said “Making chocolate is so important now. We didn’t expect it to be but it has captured people’s imaginations.”
Elizabeth also undertook training supported by the Australian Government at the World Vegetable Centre in Thailand in 2018 where she was proud to be there as a leader in her own right. Her evolution as a widely respected leader in her community reflects the support of her family and has been a real achievement in what has often been a male dominated field. Under the project Elizabeth was the only woman on a tour of cocoa farming activities and training at the Mars Cocoa Academy in 2017.
Elizabeth Pisiai surrounded by cocoa pods in Buin in 2019.
In-country Project Manager James Butubu is also keen on the chocolate activity in the project, “Farmers, entrepreneurs, politicians and ordinary citizens are saying ‘We have grown cocoa for so many decades, so when are we going to produce our own chocolate locally?’ To me I can say, yes we can! It is still early days but we have definitely made a start.”
The villagers are still at the experimental stage however, the idea for now is to develop local markets in Bougainville.
For further information, including access to related materials, please contact the Australian High Commission media team: +675 7090 0100