Contents - Previous - Next

This is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu

Nutritional effects of export-crop production in Papua New Guinea: A review of the evidence

Peter F. Heywood and Robin L. Hide

Abstract

The effects of cash cropping on nutrition in Papua New Guinea are reviewed. The interpretation of the available evidence is complicated by the introduction of cash cropping simultaneously with services such as health and education of the rural population. However, there is indication that the growth of children improved over the period in which cash cropping increased, particularly in the highlands, where, as a result of the later introduction of cash crops, more baseline data are available. There is no reason to believe that the same effect did not occur in the lowlands, where the infant mortality rate fell progressively over the same period. There is also evidence of an increase in the height and weight of adults, as well as an increase in the prevalence of degenerative diseases. Programmes need to be developed that retain the important benefits of child health and at the same time arrest the increasing prevalence of degenerative diseases in adults.

Introduction

Over the last three decades the effects of export-crop production on nutrition and, more generally, agriculture in the developing world have been debated widely [1-6]. In Papua New Guinea there has been general discussion of the potential effects of cash cropping on staple-food production and nutrition since at least the 1950s [7-11], and more recently there has been a period of relatively pointed debate [12-24]. Despite the evidence of two national-level studies that found a positive relationship between nutrition status and indexes of cash-crop income at the provincial level [25, 26] and a review that showed similar results from more recent anthropometric surveys of two provinces [27], it is still often asserted that the nutritional effects are negative.

Connell [28], for instance, believed that all the evidence suggests a "substantial and steady increase in the incidence of malnutrition in recent years," while Kahn and Sexton [29] reported that the studies in their recent collection generally agree with Wirsing's [30] depiction of economic development resulting in a deterioration of diet and health status. Lepowsky expressed a similar view on general dietary change, describing the "store-bought diet which has wreaked nutritional havoc in recent years in Papua New Guinean towns and plantation communities" [31]. A 1987 workshop on the condition of children and women in Papua New Guinea concluded ambivalently that "while the government's emphasis on the introduction of cash cropping has improved nutrition in some areas through the purchase of imported foods, it has also led to a general neglect of the subsistence sector which has a negative impact on nutrition" [32].

To date, only two specific field studies within the country have addressed the nutritional effects of the shift from subsistence agriculture to involvement in cash-crop production. One was restricted to a single resettlement scheme where cash cropping was a minor source of income [33-36]. The other was also a single-site study, focused on the effects of cash income from employment on a cardamom plantation [37, 38]. Neither, therefore, can provide comprehensive answers holding for the range of export crops and conditions found in Papua New Guinea (table 1). However, substantial numbers of dietary, anthropometric, and economic studies, some cross-sectional and some longitudinal over considerable periods of time, are available.

TABLE 1. Participation in export-crop production, 1983

Source: Adapted from ref. 39.
a. Length of involvement in the cash economy.

Our approach is pragmatic. We feel this is appropriate given the considerable variation in the extent and type of involvement in cash cropping by the rural population. This is likely to result in nutritional effects that are highly contingent on the agricultural circumstances. Thus, the extent and type of involvement of the rural population in export-crop production varies with the crop and is determined by the region of the country, itself a determinant of the length of contact with Europeans and exposure to the cash economy, the type of crop grown, the mode of production, the proportion of the population affected, and the distribution of benefits.

Development of export-crop production

External trade in agricultural commodities in New Guinea began with the permanent presence of European powers in the nineteenth century. In 1828 the government of the Netherlands took possession of the western half of the island (now the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya). In 1884 the German government laid claim to the north coast and islands of eastern New Guinea, and the British government to the south coast (later officially known as Papua). From 1914 Australia administered the former German colony of New Guinea as well as Papua. After World War II the two colonies were administered as a single territory, Papua New Guinea, which became independent in 1975.

European agricultural endeavour up to the beginning of World War II was concentrated in the coastal and island regions and was primarily concerned with the plantation production of cash crops for export [40]. Although at various times in this period coconuts, coffee, cacao, cotton, tobacco, kapok, rubber, sisal, rice, and maize were all grown on plantations, the only crop for which significant and sustained production was achieved was copra. These efforts were much more successful in New Guinea (particularly the Gazelle Peninsula of East New Britain Province) than in Papua, partly due to the greater allocation of capital and skilled manpower made by Germany, which gave a higher priority to developing its colony than did Australia.

Although participation by village people in these developments was low in both colonies, except as labourers, the more extensive development of plantations, trading facilities, and infrastructure in New Guinea meant that some villagers were drawn into the cash economy. In Papua, failure to develop viable plantation production of export crops eventually led the administration to place more emphasis on village-based commercial agriculture. Although for various reasons this attempt was largely unsuccessful [41], the orientation toward small-holders was maintained after World War II, when Australia began providing massive resources for the development of Papua New Guinea [40].

After World War II the Australian government for the first time became actively involved in the development of Papua New Guinea, with the intention of creating a viable local economy as a foundation for eventual self-government. The production of agricultural exports, particularly coffee, cacao, copra, and coconut oil, was to be the mainstay of this development. Subsequently the oil palm and tea were introduced and attempts were made to revive rubber production. Other cash crops grown for export included chillies, cardamom, and pyrethrum, all of minor importance. With the exception of cardamom, their production has been stagnant or declining.

In 1983 the main export crops (coffee, cacao, coconuts, oil palm, tea, rubber) accounted for approximately 30% of the value of primary production (table 2) and 43% of the total value of exports. The relative importance of the main crops varies between the regions of the country and has changed over time, as have the relative contributions of the plantation and small-holder sectors to total production.

TABLE 2. Estimated value of primary-industry production,1983

Source: Ref. 39.
a. Average percentage increase or decrease per year in income.

Contents - Previous - Next