May 8, 2024 – Food crops can improve family nutrition, increase income and even contribute to more gender equality. That’s why we donated food crop seeds to farmers in our supply chain in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in honor of our clients as our 2023 holiday gift.
Now that the growing season in PNG has started, we’re thrilled to share updates on this project, including expected yields and income increases, and hear from farmers themselves about how this project has benefited them.
Food crops were chosen based on farmer needs, soil type and cash crops. The 5 vegetables chosen were:
- Potato
- Carrot
- Bulb onion
- Chinese Cabbage
- Green Coronet Cabbage
172 farming families received seeds. These seeds are making a substantial impact:
- 50,740 kg of food grown
- Average additional income of US $324.50 per family
- 16% average increase in income per family
- Improved family nutrition
Martha Dukio is a coffee farmer in our Lamari supply chain and one of the recipients of food crops from this project. For her, the benefits of these food crops are twofold: they help her pay for basic household needs and they increase gender equality and improve decision-making in her household.
“I will make use of the income from these food crops to meet basic household needs like saving for school fees and other obligations.” - Martha Dukio
In her household and in many other families in PNG, husbands typically control household income from coffee production. The food crops even the playing field by helping Martha access a new source of income over which she maintains control of the money.
“I am overjoyed and very happy with this gift from Sucafina. I can already think ahead how much income I will make from sowing these seeds and selling them. Not only the money but these food crops will also contribute to nutritious meals for my family as well.” - Martha Dukio
Martha plans to use these food crops as a “starter kit” that will inform which crops are the most profitable or nutritious for her family. She intends to continue investing in additional crops to grow her cash and food crop business.
Thanks to participating farmers like Martha, Sucafina in PNG considers this first round of cash and food crop distribution a resounding success. “This pilot is a really good sign. Families have a more balanced diet, female farmers have a greater say in financial decision making and families as a whole make more income,” Delma Farokave, Sustainability Manager, reports. Sucafina plans to continue working with other actors like NGOs, governments, and Sucafina sales offices to fund more seed distributions across their supply chains in PNG.