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Citation: Koczberski, Gina and Curry, George. (2003). Sustaining production and livelihoods among oil palm smallholders: A socio-economic study of the Bialla smallholder sector. Perth: Curtin University of Technology. Permanent Link: The... more
Citation: Koczberski, Gina and Curry, George. (2003). Sustaining production and livelihoods among oil palm smallholders: A socio-economic study of the Bialla smallholder sector. Perth: Curtin University of Technology. Permanent Link: The attached document may provide the author's accepted version of a published work. See Citation for details of the published work.
Abstract: The village tradestore in rural Papua New Guinea is a physical expression of modernity in the heart of the village and is symbolic of the new economic and social formations associated with incorporation. This paper examines how... more
Abstract: The village tradestore in rural Papua New Guinea is a physical expression of modernity in the heart of the village and is symbolic of the new economic and social formations associated with incorporation. This paper examines how the village tradestore is positioned in relation to these processes of change by considering the management and operation of several tradestores in the Wosera sub-district, East Sepik Province. The paper reports on the ways in which values, relationships and behaviours associated with both the introduced market economy and the precapitalist socio-economy become articulated through the ostensibly modern phenomenon of tradestores. Key words: new economic geography, rural development, small business
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The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the PNG Government have had a common interest in improving the highlands marketing system for fresh produce stretching back over 30 years. The early studies focused... more
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the PNG Government have had a common interest in improving the highlands marketing system for fresh produce stretching back over 30 years. The early studies focused on the physical/technical challenges and, while they recommended changes to improve the marketing system, they did not actually engage with the change process per se. By 2000, there was a strong desire for change and this led to the commissioning of an ACIAR-funded research project that would engage the change process in a way that responded to the perceived needs of poor rural households in the highlands of PNG. The project involved the University of Canberra, the Fresh Produce Development Agency and the National Agricultural Research Institute as partner institutions. The research strategy selected for this project was participatory action research (PAR), which was relatively new for ACIAR at the time. The project had three objectives, which were...
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In agriculturally suitable areas of PNG there is a high demand for access to customary land by land-poor migrants from remote and poorly-serviced rural locations and by companies seeking to establish large-scale agricultural developments.... more
In agriculturally suitable areas of PNG there is a high demand for access to customary land by land-poor migrants from remote and poorly-serviced rural locations and by companies seeking to establish large-scale agricultural developments. Shortages of state land and land under freehold title mean that migrants and companies are entering into a range of agreements with customary landowners to access land. In PNG, as in most developing countries, there has been a significant push for the registration of customary land underpinned by the notion that successful development can only occur when people hold title to their land and are able to use these titles as collateral for bank loans. It is commonly assumed that without secure individual title to land, agricultural productivity will be low. We examine this argument through a study of smallholder oil palm productivity under three different tenure regimes in declining order of tenure security: smallholders with 99-year leases on state la...
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This paper examines intra-household and socio-cultural factors leading to differential outcomes in educational attainment by gender and birth order amongst smallholder oil palm households in Papua New Guinea. Not all children share... more
This paper examines intra-household and socio-cultural factors leading to differential outcomes in educational attainment by gender and birth order amongst smallholder oil palm households in Papua New Guinea. Not all children share equitably in the household resources allocated to education: females have lower average education levels than males, and high birth order children have higher education attainment than lower birth order siblings, indicating preferential parental investment in sons and early born children. The findings demonstrate that despite households having regular access to relatively high incomes from oil palm and residing in close proximity to schools, primary school net enrolment rates remain significantly lower than those for East Asia and the Pacific region, and the millennium development goal of universal primary education has not been met. This finding is likely to be the result of a combination of intra-household factors including gender power imbalances, low parental education levels, the agency of youth in educational decision-making and the weakening attraction of education as a means of improving income-earning potential.
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This chapter examines the educational levels and opportunities among migrant oil palm farming households in the three main oil palm-growing areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Whilst average adult education levels in oil palm farming... more
This chapter examines the educational levels and opportunities among migrant oil palm farming households in the three main oil palm-growing areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Whilst average adult education levels in oil palm farming communities are higher than the national average, they are still low given most children do not finish primary school. Moreover, findings indicate that population and income pressures are leading to increasing social and economic stratification within and between families. Inequality is most evident by the fact that children from families without regular access to oil palm income have lower education levels than those children from families living on the same block who regularly receive oil palm income. Stratification as differential educational opportunities is a new phenomenon reflecting greater individualism and the rise of market relations and has considerable development implications particularly for policies aimed at reducing poverty and vulnerability levels in rural PNG.
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Thousands of studies have been conducted by social scientists in the villages and islands, and increasingly in the towns, of the Pacific. Despite this, there are few longitudinal studies of any great depth and sophistication in the... more
Thousands of studies have been conducted by social scientists in the villages and islands, and increasingly in the towns, of the Pacific. Despite this, there are few longitudinal studies of any great depth and sophistication in the region. The contributors to this book have all conducted long-term research in the islands of the Pacific. During their visits and revisits they have witnessed first-hand the many changes that have occurred in their fieldsites as well as observing elements of continuity. They bring to their accounts a sense of their surprise at some of the unexpected elements of stability and of transformation. The authors take a range of disciplinary approaches, particularly geography and anthropology, and their contributions reflect their deep knowledge of Pacific places, some first visited more than 40 years ago. Many of the chapters focus on aspects of socio-economic change and continuity, while others focus on specific issues such as the impact of both internal and international migration, political and cultural change, technological innovation and the experiences of children and youth. By focusing on both change and continuity this collection of 11 case studies shows the complex relationships between Pacific societies and processes of ‘modernity’ and globalisation. By using a long-term lens on particular places, the authors are able to draw out the subtleties of change and its impacts, while also paying attention to what, in the contemporary Pacific, has been left remarkably unchanged. Filling a gap in the studies of the Pacific region, this book will appeal to an interdisciplinary audience in the fields of anthropology, development, geography, and Asia-Pacific studies.
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Data were collected in summer and winter in a 15-year-old plantation of Pinus taeda, at Clouds Creek, north-eastern New South Wales. In summer, diversity and abundance of bird species declined over a distance of 900 m into the plantation.... more
Data were collected in summer and winter in a 15-year-old plantation of Pinus taeda, at Clouds Creek, north-eastern New South Wales. In summer, diversity and abundance of bird species declined over a distance of 900 m into the plantation. However, in winter this progressive decline in bird densities was limited to within the first 200 m of the plantation periphery. At greater distances into the plantation, the floristic and structural characteristics of the vegetation (including windrows) were of more importance than the proximity of the plantation edge in accounting for variations in the abundance and diversity of birds. Food for insectivorous birds (the dominant feeding guild) is probably restricted in the plantation because few local species of invertebrates are likely to be adapted to living on exotic pines; invertebrate mobility as well as abundance is probably less in winter, so that fewer invertebrates enter the plantation from adjacent native forest. Windrows are an importan...
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... The PNG research presented here, together with the work of others on social embeddedness and regulation theory (see introduction for ... practitioners to be sensitive to the contingent nature of development and pay more attention to... more
... The PNG research presented here, together with the work of others on social embeddedness and regulation theory (see introduction for ... practitioners to be sensitive to the contingent nature of development and pay more attention to local social and economic practices and ...
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ABSTRACT Provision of appropriate fertilizer recommendations to smallholder farmers is becoming increasingly important, for reasons of food security, economic viability, and the need to maintain soil fertility. Oil palm is one of the most... more
ABSTRACT Provision of appropriate fertilizer recommendations to smallholder farmers is becoming increasingly important, for reasons of food security, economic viability, and the need to maintain soil fertility. Oil palm is one of the most important crops in the humid tropics, but smallholder growers (< 10 ha) typically have low yields, largely due to inadequate fertilizer inputs and/or incomplete harvesting. It is difficult to produce appropriate fertilizer recommendations for the smallholder growers, due to their large numbers and small farm sizes. In this work, we developed a way of transferring to smallholder growers the fertilizer recommendations that have been developed for nearby plantation fields using large fertilizer trials. The study site was in West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, and transfer of information was done using a geographic information system and maps of plantation fields, smallholder blocks, and soil types. The soil-map-unit descriptions were interpreted, and a unified classification system was derived. Then, fertilizer recommendations that had been made on a field-specific basis for the large plantations were allocated to soil types and thereby to individual smallholder blocks. In this way, block-specific fertilizer recommendations were made for more than 4000 individual smallholders. The procedures used were developed into a conceptual framework which is transferable to other regions. Recommendations can be updated as new information becomes available on smallholder block locations or plantation fertilizer recommendations.
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... Note: Monetary symbol PGK = Papua New Guinea Kina (PGK 1 ≈ USD 0.39). ... agreed that management of cocoa blocks in PNG must improve dramatically for the cocoa industry to prosper, and perhaps even to survive, particularly with the... more
... Note: Monetary symbol PGK = Papua New Guinea Kina (PGK 1 ≈ USD 0.39). ... agreed that management of cocoa blocks in PNG must improve dramatically for the cocoa industry to prosper, and perhaps even to survive, particularly with the rapid spread of cocoa pod borer. ...
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This paper reports on the authors’ ongoing research with agricultural extension services, customary landowners and migrant farmers to develop a template for a Land Usage Agreement (LUA) that seeks to reconcile customary landowners’ and... more
This paper reports on the authors’ ongoing research with agricultural extension services, customary landowners and migrant farmers to develop a template for a Land Usage Agreement (LUA) that seeks to reconcile customary landowners’ and migrants’ differing interpretations of the moral basis of land rights. The LUA shows a way forward for land reform that builds on customary tenure while strengthening
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ABSTRACT This paper reports on ongoing research on migration and circulation between the Wosera sub-district, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, and the island province of West New Britain. We examine the pressures contributing to... more
ABSTRACT This paper reports on ongoing research on migration and circulation between the Wosera sub-district, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, and the island province of West New Britain. We examine the pressures contributing to increased family migration and longer-term, possibly permanent, migration from the Wosera. While rising resource/population pressure and stricter forms of land tenure arrangements are altering patterns of out-migration, the situation for long-term and temporary migrants in West New Britain is becoming less certain as land shortages begin to limit opportunities for further settlement and indigenous landowners become less tolerant of migrants from other provinces. We discuss these influences on migration patterns within the context of emerging social stratification of Wosera society, and consider the implications for both migrants and non-migrants.
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Publikationsansicht. 55789293. Village-Based Marine Resource Use and Rural Livelihoods: Kimbe Bay, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea (2006). ...
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... In the past decade, opposition to informal settlements has further intensified as law-and-orderproblems have escalated sharply in urban Papua New Guinea. Newspapers regu-larly portray informal settlements as havens for the unemployed... more
... In the past decade, opposition to informal settlements has further intensified as law-and-orderproblems have escalated sharply in urban Papua New Guinea. Newspapers regu-larly portray informal settlements as havens for the unemployed and criminal gangs. They Page 7. ...
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... The planning conflicts and problems stemming from this change in the district's economic and demographic fortunes are then considered. Key Words: Rural Change; Group Settlement; Tourism; Land Use Conflict. Introduction ...
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Page 1. STRUCTURE AND CHANGE IN A LOCAL HOLIDAY RESORT: PEACEFUL BAY, ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA JOHN SELWOOD, GEORGE CURRY & GINA KOCZBERSKI ... Ij iDIAN-i '. iyi i... more
Page 1. STRUCTURE AND CHANGE IN A LOCAL HOLIDAY RESORT: PEACEFUL BAY, ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA JOHN SELWOOD, GEORGE CURRY & GINA KOCZBERSKI ... Ij iDIAN-i '. iyi i ,'.' p ; ; : i ; i : ..^\ ff ^.' i \\ '; i' *// ( ...
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This paper reports on a small, cross-sectional study of 18 hospitals in northern New South Wales. The objectives of this study were to collect baseline data on: (i) the prevalence and type of pressure ulcers in a variety of rural... more
This paper reports on a small, cross-sectional study of 18 hospitals in northern New South Wales. The objectives of this study were to collect baseline data on: (i) the prevalence and type of pressure ulcers in a variety of rural hospitals; and (ii) the range of nursing and medical interventions that are used to prevent/treat pressure ulcers. Using a cross-sectional design, the study found that pressure ulcer prevalence, which was 6%, was within the range found by previous reports (4-15%). Pressure ulcer prevention and treatment practices were varied, ranging from turning of the patient and occlusive dressings, to such creative methods as exposure to sunshine and airing the wound. This study demonstrates that despite years of attention to pressure sore prevention and treatment, the prevalence of ulcers is still a significant problem in northern New South, Wales hospitals.