Department of National Planning & Monitoring Officials pay a visit to the EU-STREIT PNG running activities in the Sepik Region

Wewak, ESP – A delegation of Papua New Guinea's Department of National Planning and Monitoring (DNPM) conducts a 5-day monitoring visit to Sepik Region, inspecting the EU STREIT PNG activities being implemented in the Region. During the monitoring mission, the delegation met with EU STREIT PNG Team, Provincial Administration, service providers and direct beneficiaries, and discussed key issues with key stakeholders on the ground.

Appreciating the hard work delivered by the UN Partner agencies in the framework of the EU-funded STREIT Programme, the DNPM Monitoring Mission Leader, Mr Jacob Areman, Assistant Secretary at DNPM, in his remarks during the wrap-up meeting, underscored that it is important to hear directly from the beneficiaries and farmers about their views on the Programme and how the program has been supporting them.

Likewise, he further said, "community participation is important for the Programme's success; everything is about farmers, and we need to spend more time with the farmers."

Mr Areman acknowledged the good progress made by the Programme, particularly in cocoa and vanilla value chains and infrastructure development sections (roads improvement and maintenance) in the different corners of the Region. "We saw the progress is happening on the ground, and coordination and partnership between the provinces and the EU STREIT PNG are further strengthened," he added. Mr Areman called on further alignments between the Provincial Priorities and EU STREIT PNG, and advised both Provincial Administration and EU STREIT to take tangible steps to further enhance coordination and cooperation at technical levels through establishing institutionalised mechanisms.

With support from the EU STREIT PNG Team, the mission covered paying a visit to multiple implementations sites where the Programme keeps up with its commitment to implement activities envisaged to further support the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-business practices in both East Sepik and Sandaun Provinces. It includes the renovated Fisheries Office and Ice Plant in Vanimo; Wutung Market Facility on the border of Indonesia; Vanilla farm in Waromo village in BWO LLG; Passi-Krisa-Osol Road's improvement; PDAL extension service centre in Pasi; Yawasoro Niiengwanje Road's improvements; Drone Survey, Penjikovi Women Agriculture Group, Ward 24, Yawasoro; Wewak Rural LLG's training, nursery and budwood garden site; Hawain nursery and resource centre; Wilmom Agro Farming Business Group and the Wewak Rural LLG's Cocoa and Vanilla training, nursery and Bud wood garden site.

The EU-STREIT PNG is the largest grant-funded Programme of the European Union in the country and the Pacific region, which focuses on supporting smallholder cocoa, vanilla and fish farmers in the ten districts of East and West Sepik provinces. The Programme is being implemented as a United Nations joint programme under the leadership of FAO, partnering with the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and United Nations development programme (UNDP). FAO and the other four UN agencies operate in collaboration with the Government of Papua New Guinea.