COCONUTS, CATERECTS & COCOA

 

Bougainville CocoNet was among 25 farmers groups awarded a grant through the first phase of the Bougainville Partnership Commodity Support Facility (CSF) in 2017.

Relocated Carteret women embrace cocoa farming

When people from the Carteret Islands began to relocate to the Bougainville mainland it meant more than just leaving their homes and communities, they also needed to find new livelihoods.

Life on Bougainville presented different challenges and opportunities compared to their native atoll, which has become less habitable due to  rising sea levels and reduced access to fresh water.

Gardening was one activity that required new skills – both for subsistence farming and agricultural cash crops like cocoa.

Undeterred, a group of women from the Carteret came together to form a cocoa farmers cooperative called Bougainville CocoNet.

In 2017, Bougainville CocoNet was among 25 farmers groups awarded a grant through the first phase of the Bougainville Partnership Commodity Support Facility (CSF), supported by the Australian and New Zealand Governments.

“We are women from the Atolls,” said CocoNet member Rose Samsi, “we did not know how to manage or how to work in cocoa blocks.”

“The project has really helped us as individual mothers to be able to fend for our families.”

“We are able to make extra money to pay school fees for our children and our families’ diets have changed because we have extra money to buy food.”

The CSF grant provided much needed training in cocoa farm management and financial literacy. It also brought new equipment and seedlings to help the farmers apply their new knowledge.

CocoNet chairperson Ursula Rokova said the CSF grant encouraged the executives and farmers to work collectively.

“I'm a woman and am happy that the community is working with me, especially men,” Ms Rokova said.

“We have the support of other women, men and youths and the people within our community are working together.”

Maria Kamin, also a CocoNet member, said women who received training on cocoa block management are more independent and are sharing their knowledge with other women, men and youths.

“This project has brought many good things in our families,” she said. “There is great respect from both men and women for the executives that are leading the cooperative and among men and women members.”

While the first phase of CSF grants concluded in 2021, a second round of grants totalling K10 million commenced this year which prioritises the creation of economic opportunities for women.

Through the project, families are supported to increase their incomes which can be invested in businesses, property and children’s education.

This, in turn, can help improve livelihoods for individuals, and build stronger communities and broader based economic development in Bougainville.