MoA signed to grow PNG’s galip nut industry

A Memorandum of Agreement [MoA] was signed between the Forest Research Institute [FRI] and the Markets for Village Farmers project to promote full participation in developing Papua New Guinea’s emerging galip nut industry.

Speaking at the ceremony, FRI’s Professor Philip Siaguru acknowledged that the galip nut sector is still small but growing. He emphasised the need to commercialise, domesticate, and sustainably replant the galip tree to ensure the industry’s long-term viability.

“As I understand it, more work needs to be done to collect data about the spread of the tree species and how we can cultivate and replenish the natural stock with new stock, so that this niche industry can be sustained and flourish,” Professor Siaguru said.

Project Manager Joe Koima thanked the partners and said the project has faced many challenges over the past five years

“The project targets the fresh produce and galip nut value chain," Koima said. "It promotes and assists beneficiaries, including farmers and collectors of both fresh produce and galip nut, as well as buyers, by providing strategic investments in farming and business to improve production, transport, and marketing."

Koima added that the galip nut is a new and emerging industry, with processing and packaging carried out locally in PNG. Products are sold both domestically and internationally.

He said the nuts are primarily collected from forests by local men and women, rather than farmed, and stressed the importance of assessing national resources to enable communities to capitalise on the market opportunities.

The MoA represents a key step towards developing the galip nut industry, aiming to create sustainable livelihoods for local communities while supporting the growth of PNG’s agricultural sector.