Sustainable Land Use for Smallholder Farming Communities in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Combining agricultural production with biodiversity conservation is one of the main challenges of the 21st century. This issue is especially urgent in Papua New Guinea (PNG): 85% of PNG’s population depends on shifting agriculture, and the rapid population growth is causing a need for increased food production. At the same time PNG’s tropical forest hosts 5-10% of the world’s biodiversity. Subsistence agriculture is already a major driver of deforestation in PNG. Smallholder farming communities in PNG play an essential role in ensuring food security and biodiversity conservation, because 85% of the land is under customary land tenure. Currently there is a major knowledge gap with regards to how land in PNG can best be managed to produce the food required, while at the same time safeguarding the environment, in the context of population growth and climate change.

The aim of my research project is to contribute to the scientific understanding of agricultural production and biodiversity conservation in PNG, and use the information to engage in land use planning exercises with smallholder farming communities in which it is examined how agriculture and biodiversity conservation can best be combined in the context of social- and ecological change.

To achieve this aim I have conducted fieldwork in different smallholder farming communities based along an elevational gradient in PNG. I performed an ecological survey which examined how herbivory and disease influence current crop yield in smallholder systems in PNG, and what farming practices influence these ecological processes. Results indicate that surrounding a crop field with trees and increasing crop diversity may reduce herbivore- and pathogen damage. In addition, I conducted a social survey which looked at natural resource use and willingness to change current farming practices. Results show that farmers are willing to change their practices.

This Feburary I will again perform ecological and social surveys in PNG. This time I will investigate whether using soil enhancement techniques could be a feasible option to enhance agricultural production.

Future fieldwork will focus on understanding the effect of forest fragmentation in PNG on ecological functioning of the primary forest. I will also explore options that would enable local communities to balance the need for both enhanced food production and biodiversity conservation on their land in a sustainable manner, in the context of a dynamic social-ecological system.

On the ECCB I would like to present the results of my ecological and social surveys that I conducted so far. This means that my presentation will focus on how agricultural production by smallholder farming communities in PNG could be enhanced in a sustainable way.