The Role of Village Entrepreneurs and Wholesalers in the Sweet Potato Value Chain in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Sweet potato (kaukau) is a major staple food crop in Papua New Guinea (PNG) that accounts for many households’ food intake. The demand for kaukau has increased significantly over the years due to increasing urbanization in the country. Lae and Port Moresby, two of the major cities in PNG, get more kaukau produced in the Highlands because of the increased demand for it. To get a clear picture of the markets, key informants of the sweet potato supply chain were interviewed, including farmers, village entrepreneurs (VE), wholesalers, transporters, and buyers. This report focuses on the VEs and wholesalers operating in the main production areas in Western Highlands (WH) and Eastern Highlands (EH) provinces. Given the small number of VEs and wholesalers operating in high-production areas, all were interviewed, 3 VEs and 1 wholesaler in Hagen Central district in the WH, and 2 VEs and 1 wholesaler in the Daulo district in the EH provinces. Results show that VEs who buy kaukau and other vegetables from their own village faced problems in access to credit, transport, and storage facility, and many more, while wholesalers were much better resourced, had ready markets, and faced less problems. The constraints have resulted in fewer VEs coming on the scene. To address these issues, the government should put in place decisive policies to address these constraints and stimulate the growth of this industry. The government should also focus on building marketing infrastructure as well as adequately funding state agencies responsible for developing the fresh produce industry

Aspects of Postharvest Quality Required by Papua New Guinea Sweet Potato Consumers in the Main Port Moresby Markets

Sweet potato (known locally as kaukau) is a major subsistence crop grown in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and sold in local and coastal cities such as Lae and Port Moresby (POM). As farmers transition from subsistence to commercial farming, it is very important for them to know what quality the market (consumers) require. With this knowledge, farmers can prepare their produce for the appropriate market (local or coastal city). This paper reports on the sizes that POM consumers require of fresh sweet potato based on samples purchased from 3 to 5 open markets in POM on 3 sample dates. Within each market, we randomly selected sweet potato from 2, 5, and 10 kina (PNG currency) heaps that sellers had constructed, approximately 3–5 heaps per market. The sweet potatoes were bagged, labelled, and brought to the laboratory in POM for measurements of the minimum diameter, maximum diameter, length, counts of root number per heap, and weight of the heaps. Calculations were made of price per kg and mean root weight in each heap. Results showed the K5 and K10 heaps contained larger sweet potato (diameter, length, and weight) than the K2 heaps and suggests in POM, the fresh sweet potato market prefers a medium-sized sweet potato (165–187 mm, 282–464 g). The smaller roots were sold in the K2 heaps. Although all sizes of sweet potato are marketable, for highland farmers to make a sustainable business from sending sweet potato to POM, it is the medium-sized sweet potato they should be grading and packing on farm and shipping without delay

Understanding Market Demand for Sweet Potato in Papua New Guinea

Sweet potato is the most important food crop in Papua New Guinea, grown by the majority of households throughout the country. In recent years, it has become an important source of income for smallholder farmers in a developing market economy at a time when demand is rising in urban centers, especially in coastal cities such as Lae and Port Moresby (POM). A transformation from subsistence to commercial farming requires new skills and a change of mindsets from production orientation to market orientation. A starting point is better understanding of what the market wants. The objective of the study was to understand the market requirements in POM of both consumers and institutional buyers through a consumer survey (350 households) and informant interviews (25 institutional buyers), respectively. The results show that while the demand for sweet potato is increasing in some segments of the POM market, rice poses a serious threat to the longer-term prospects of the sweet potato sector. Furthermore, the majority of consumers surveyed indicate a clear preference for some sweet potato varieties and associated product attributes, but lack of product information leads to confusion and high search costs. By contrast, institutional buyers demand good quality products and consistency in supply. The conclusion is that the sweet potato sector must improve its product quality and supply consistency, as well as reduce the marketing cost, in order to compete with rice and other food crops by changing their current postharvest and marketing practices

A Socio-Economic Analysis of the Factors Affecting Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Good Quality Sweet Potato in Papua New Guinea

The increasing interest in health and nutrition has enhanced demand for quality of food products and subsequent desire by consumers to pay premiums for food quality. This study examines the influence of socio-economic and product quality attributes on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for good quality sweet potato in Papua New Guinea. Information collected from 356 randomly selected consumers from the capital city of Port Moresby is used in this study. Using a structured pretested questionnaire, the survey was conducted in different pre-identified market locations based on the results of initial reconnaissance survey, market survey, and inputs from market experts. Using a two-step double hurdle model, we estimate the determinants of the discrete willingness-to-pay decision and the premiums consumers are willing to pay for good quality sweet potato. Of the total number of consumers, 80% were willing to pay a premium for good quality attributes in sweet potato. On average, consumers are willing to pay a premium of 2.22 kinas per kg with a minimum of 0.96 kinas per kg and a maximum of 3.47 kinas per kg. The premiums consumers were willing to pay are influenced by factors such as education, place of origin (highland regions), number of years the household has been living in Port Moresby, as well as other quality attributes such as the physical appearance of the roots (freshness, cleanliness, shape, and size), maturity of roots, and the sweet taste. Our results highlight two important implications: the importance of improving the quality of sweet potato by incorporating good quality attributes into research and development of new or improved varieties that meet consumer demand, and consideration of various factors in developing interventions in the sweet potato industry to enhance incomes of different stakeholders