Comments

If it wasn't for Community Development Standard, my agricultural skill would not have made any difference to people because agricultural skill are not "people skills". Since I learned the community development skills, I always made success stories, since 2004. I never failed a project because I could easily connect their development need well. They saw themselves as the answer to their problems and solved it. Among a number of my heroes, I thank Fritz Robinson, Francis Kup, Priscilla Plus, Rebecca Robinson and Chris Guard who were my role models. I will be a role model to others.

I established a small NGO delivering micro credit to Indonesians who were unable to obtain funding for small business establishment. We partner and fund local NGOs to deliver and manage loans to borrowers. We have operated in several regions with mixed success and now fund exclusively an NGO in Jogyakarta run by an innovative and energetic local woman (retired engineer) who quite exceptionally delivers excellent service to her clients and us (as funder). There is no doubt that no non-local could perform the role in any way as well as she does. I totally endorse the opinions cited by Anna in her article, as I have seen it work in practice.

Thank you, Dr Sharp, Dr Busse and Dr Bourke OL for this vital contribution to the fresh produce market in PNG. I agree that, there has been an increase in wet or open-air market places in both rural and urban. PNG’s population growth and health awareness among the populous will continue to exert upward pressure on demand of fresh produce. We (i.e., Vantage Capital Ltd) recently undertook a fresh produce market mapping, specifically on the commercial buyers, which includes wholesalers, supermarkets/retailers, institutions, catering companies, extractive businesses and hotels & restaurants. Open-air markets were excluded, given time and cost limitations, though they comprise around 60% of the total market demand in Port Moresby. Our study shows that demand remains high and will increase going forward. We have covered the whole market with a response rate of 62 per cent. We hope to publish a brief on our report as soon as we obtain MVF/FPDA approval. Warm regards

can't agree more Mbak Anna.... thank for pointing this out...

Great article. I am wondering if there have also been notable shifts in the local labour force, particularly for Fiji as we see more expats from other developing countries (e.g Indonesia and Bangladesh) filling roles as skilled and unskilled workers.

Thank you for your comment, very thought provoking.

Colin probably would not have mentioned the support he provided in the late 1980s to an aid lobby group I helped start in 1986 - R.E.S.U.L.T.S. Australia, then located in easy reach in Canberra. We were a group of people who believed in creating the political will to help end hunger and poverty around our world. While we were all learning the arts of meeting and influencing MPs, Ministers and Government policy, Colin showed us some practical examples of addressing this poverty through his work with the NTA. This later gave us insights into the importance of the International Year of Microcredit in 2005 and the Grameen Bank under Professor Yunus. Colin Barlow showed us what commitment to improving livelihoods in poor communities could and should mean.

The situation Andrew Mako describes could with a touch less tribal conflict apply to any group of rural LLG settings in PNG. The collapse of rural government and post-independence services is profound. Not only have government workers abandoned these areas but church services have also collapsed. The situation is complex however a lack of funding is undoubtedly at the core of the issue as successive administrations have simply been unable or unwilling to support rural services in a meaningful manner. In the absence of a profound change to funding and delivery arrangements there is little hope that the current top-down models of delivery will effect sustainable change. The comment by Anna Gibert, that outsourcing “development” to projectized modalities that focus on technical assistance fails to address the root causes of rural services decline, is correct. PNG communities have always been supremely self-reliant and within reason remain so. A month spent in rural settings that are devoid of services reveals that life continues as it always did inclusive of high maternal mortality and childhood death from preventable conditions. It also reveals that people desperately want better services, employment for their youth, economic empowerment and that they would be willing to participate and partner in solutions to issues they need addressed. It is to this latter point that I believe the greatest opportunity for sustainable change exists. Ergo, directing a portion of the development effort towards empowering communities to address issues of important on their terms is a necessary piece of the assistance puzzle that is missing. As Andrew said, lifting health, education, law & order and economic indicators involves unpacking the local issues and that cannot be done by centralised project structures. It does require working directly at the coal face and doing the hard yards with communities to arrive at mutually agreed solutions It’s not pretty, it doesn’t make any one rich, it doesn’t necessarily win the local member any brownie points, it is slow and sometimes painful, but it works. Sir Mekere Morauta, for whom I once had the privilege to work, understood that human capital development was a bottom-up process that started at the core of PNG society, the community. His vision therefore was set the economic structures in place to facilitate that process. There have been other thinkers of his ilk, sadly now gone, each of whom placed community empowerment at the heart of their development vision. I remain hopeful that the vision of these leaders will be seen and supported for what they are, the best pathway towards human capital development over the long haul in PNG.

This is a marvellous start.

What an informative and compelling piece by Andrew Anton Mako. If anyone needed further evidence that 'technical capacity building' is not the answer to Pacific Island development, this is it; as in all nations, power, conflict and leadership are the nexus and if donors want to have any influence in contributing to positive change, they seriously and intelligently need to engage with the realities that this author has so clearly outlined - and stop outsourcing this work to discredited 'projectised' modalities.

Only one province in PNG has an elderly and People Living with Disability Pension for more than 10 years. World Bank has done so much ground work such as policy which is in place but political will is missing, compounded by sociopolitical and economic issues.

Thank you Australia for this opportunity 🙏 can't wait to apply for this one.