At last week's Rotary Melbourne meeting (30 Nov) PP Peter Rogers presented a report on the Community Piggery Enterprise (CPE) Project in Hela Province of PNG.
The Community Piggery Enterprise (CPE) Project in Hela Province of PNG is located in a remote location in the PNG Highlands. The purpose of this project is to bring farmers into a commercial piggery industry which has potential to turn PNG from an importer of pork to a net exporter of pork.
Background
The Rotary engagement, which includes a local women's group becoming a Rotary Satellite club. The closest existing Rotary Club is Mt Hagen. Partners in the project include Santos (formerly Oil Search). Training of farmers in horticulture (sweet potato feed) and animal husbandry (pig raising, health) is led by Dr Ross Cutler, veterinarian with much experience in PNG. Rotary Melbourne is contributing to the cost of training.
The Land at Nogoli is being leased by Wonderland Agristock Ltd (WAL) from the landowners and there is a written legal agreement which has gone through due process.
Pigs were purchased by WAL from Borema Piggery Ltd, Port Moresby. WAL is in discussion with the government seeking support.
Building of the Central Breeding and Model Farms at Nogoli are expected to be completed by the end of December. A total of 55 tons of feedstock has been processed and stored ready.
In early November they received the delivery of 25 pigs (3 boars, 22 gilts [A sow is a female pig that has already had a litter and a gilt is a female pig that has not had a litter. Therefore, a gilt can be a pregnant animal (up until its first litter)]) at Nogoli. This is the breeding stock for the project sourced from Pt Moresby. They are settling in well and will be mated in January.
They use digital technology for managing the individual piggery businesses and handling of financial transactions. Digicell technology is used to capture data from farmers/model farms. It also provides for cashless transactions.
Future
Future stages of the project will involve expanding to 180 farms. There are risks e.g. social unrest and crime, foot and mouth disease, African swine fever. However, we are making good progress and can manage these.
By PP Peter Rogers 30 November 2022
