News stories by Catherine Wilson, page 14

PORT MORESBY, Aug 13 (IPS) - Agriculture provides a livelihood to the majority of the population in Papua New Guinea, a developing island nation of approximately seven million in the south west Pacific.  However, the loss and waste of an estimated half of all fresh produce between harvesting and marketing is threatening improvements to food security and local incomes.

PORT MORESBY, Jul 26 (IPS) - In Papua New Guinea, a Pacific Island nation located south of the equator, 90 percent of the population is at risk of malaria and 1.9 million cases are reported every year.  But, according to a recent medical study, a programme to distribute long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to every district in the country has dramatically reduced malaria infections.

PORT MORESBY, Jul 17 (IPS) - In an informal settlement of 10,000 people on the outskirts of Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, Tembari Children’s Care – a new grassroots initiative – is providing protection, food and education to orphans and abandoned children who would otherwise join the high numbers of child labourers in this Melanesian country.

PORT MORESBY, Jul 16 (IPS) - Coastal fisheries in Papua New Guinea, used primarily by local subsistence fisher folk, will face increasing pressure from climate change, compounding the twin problems of population growth and overfishing.

PORT MORESBY, Jul 06 (IPS) - The vast Sirinumu Reservoir in Central Province which supplies water and electricity to Papua New Guinea (PNG)’s capital, is home to a co-operative of 60 fish farmers who are successfully employing aquaculture to improve local incomes and food security.  

Weeks ahead of a national election in Papua New Guinea, 3000 people gathered in the capital, Port Moresby, for the sixth annual Sir Anthony Siaguru Walk against Corruption organised by Transparency International, PNG, to peacefully protest about an issue that affects every aspect of citizens’ lives.

Papua New Guinea’s high fertility rate is exerting pressure on land and food production in a country where 80 percent of the population lives in rural communities. But the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) argues that traditions of subsistence agriculture provide a firm foundation to build food security for a growing population.

Informal settlers on prime land in Papua New Guinea’s capital, Port Moresby, are now living under tarpaulin shelters amid the debris of their homes after two attempted evictions to make way for a luxury waterfront development. Undefeated, residents are now preparing a court case to challenge the legality of a lease issued to a commercial developer on land designated as a National Park.

Sea level rise near Papua New Guinea, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the southwest Pacific, is estimated at seven millimetres per year, double the global annual average of 2.8-3.6 mm.