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Good day to you A well written article A brief comment In general terms, and I have no degree, fellowship, academic basis or data to substantiate my opinions but ... food is not a major issue in PNG - most land is very arable and the only thing that doesn't grow here is the hair on my head. In my view: * As the population gravitates to an urbanisation which is not equipped, geared or resourced to manage this increase, so do the living from the land skills deteriorate. * Most farmers are subsistence farmers - growing plenty - eating what we can and not crop-sharing or rotating. * Staple crops are grown and as the authors state Protein (meat) is a key issue in our people's diet - lack of it. We don't have a cattle or livestock market, ASF is concerning for our Piggeries. We could build 10 more Mainland Tablebirds and Zenags (plus the Speik project) and still not have enough Kakaruk for our people. * Greens and starchy foods are the main diet. * High sugar content in breads, soft-drinks etc, is increasing diabetes and other blood issues (I am not a doctor, nor do I have stats to validate this statement). * The data or evidence in our Health and Govt system does not provide real numbers which therefore understates the real issues. PNG has an enormous opportunity to build a cold-chain domestic market which is self sustaining, employs people, ensures a spread of different local foods and produce to parts of the country that cannot cultivate them - THAT is where our focus should be with organisations like GrowPNG etc - THEN look at export opportunities. Just some simple bullet points - which can be shot down and jumped on at any time Have a great day Regards JB John Byrne President - LCCI #ForBetterLaeBusiness2021

Studies suggest that there are many forms/manifestations of violence against women in the Pacific, and that it is an endemic problem. Physical violence is the most visible, but there are other serious forms of violence that, for the large part, are not so obvious, and remain in the background. Given the lack of research on gender violence in the Pacific, this latest study is most welcome. This is the way to shine a light on the the not-so-obvious manifestations of gender violence. Making the research more accessible to a wider audience through columns such as this generates discussions that are crucial for creating awareness. On my part, it was a pleasure to supervise a USP Journalism student's MA thesis entitled, 'Invisibility in the media: a comparative analysis of the coverage given to female election candidates in the 1999 and 2006 elections by the Fiji Times and Fiji Sun (Usman, 2012). It was one of the few studies of its kind into the topic in Fiji, if not the only one. We need more research into the media dynamic as media play a major role in how women electoral candidates are portrayed, which influences public impressions of the women. In some respects, media are one of the pepetrators of non-physical violence against women, unknowingly, because of a lack of journalist training into this specific area. Given their reach and influence, the media should be one of the key areas for research, training and development in relation to gender, keeping in mind that female journalists also face violence and discrimination at the workplace.

Thanks Arun, Great question. The Lowy data, which our paper and my post are based on, do not include regional entities on the donor side of the equation, meaning you are right, their contribution to volatility is not included directly in the donor or recipient league tables. However, I don't think these regional organisations normally have as large an impact on Pacific aid flows as one might think. It's hard to easily get good data to show this. However, as an approximation: If we look at OECD <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?datasetcode=TABLE2A#" rel="nofollow ugc">data</a>, on average from 2015-19 only 16% of OECD DAC donors' aid went to the Pacific region rather than to specific countries. Regional aid isn't the self same thing as aid to SPC etc. Some aid might go to regional entities for their work in a specific country and not be counted as regional aid; however, by the same token, some regional aid (for example the aid Australia channels through its regional facilities) doesn't go via these entities. My sense is that the actual share of Pacific aid that flows through regional entities will be less than 16%. What's more, many of these agencies maintain regional goods, and so are not flowing money into recipient countries in the same way bilateral donors, and donors like the ADB, are. All told, I my sense is that these regional bodies are not going to be a major part of the volatility story. However, I'm not an expert on them, and don't have the data I'd like. Perhaps I may be proven wrong. Terence

Poor road maintenance contributes to food insecurity. Fix the roads and rural Papua New Guineans can sell their agricultural produce. DAL should have much greater input into funding for key agricultural road infrastructure.

Violence against women in politics is common in Africa and Cameroon in particular. We female politician should form a coalition to fight this malpractice irrespective of region of the world. I was the General Secretary of the main opposition political party in Cameroon for 15 years and presently the General secretary of the women's Academy for Africa. i have trained over 100 women in Leadership, conflict resolution and raising funds for campaigns. Election I have also monitored elections for the Commonwealth Monitoring Team and the National Democratic Institute respectively. I am available to work with various women's group to fight against violence on women.

Totally agree. Good article, thanks. Unions NSW and the Migrant Resource Centre in Victoria released a survey of 1,300 seasonal workers this week, which reports widespread underpayment of pickers on piece rates. The average hourly rate across 937 respondents was $17.33, well below the award, with 15% saying that they earned less than $7 per hour. I cannot see how this new scheme will contribute towards addressing worker exploitation (that you reported on in 2016).

Hi Terence, Thanks for this. Just wondering if performance of SPC/SPREP/Forum Sec and other big regional organisations have an impact on aid volatility in the Pacific as well. After-all they take a huge chunk of aid in the Pacific?

One way to clarify this debate is to examine rates of child stunting in different parts of PNG.

Devpolicy.org.is providing a more detailed analysis of Fiji current crises.

Thank you, Oliver.

Absolutely agree with this critique, thank you. As one with a heavy involvement in the SWP and PLS, I cannot see anything but problems arising from this development. I wonder what the AEs think?

I am currently employed as a Legal Officer in a Govt department in PNG. Research for a current matter around the use of DSIP funding has brought me to this article. Imagine how ecstatic I was when I realized that this informative piece had been drafted by my former high school Business Studies teacher, Mr. Fredrick Guande! I had the pleasure of learning from Mr Guande who has always demonstrated enthusiasm and a passion to see his students develop. He was a source of inspiration for me to question the way our society is managed, as opposed to merely conforming, through seeking different perspectives from similar forums such as Project Syndicate. As a former pupil, I am very pleased to see that you have extended your reach in your continued efforts to educate fellow Papua New Guineas. Thank you for your service, Sir.