Survey: Rural Papua New Guinea faces an array of food security challenges

By Emily Schmidt and Rishabh Mukerjee

October 18, 2024

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), rural communities play a crucial role in shaping the country's agricultural landscape and food security. To better understand these dynamics, IFPRI conducted a Rural Household Survey between May and December 2023 that aimed to gain a clearer picture of rural livelihood structures, food security status, and nutrition trends. We outlined some initial takeaways in an earlier blog post. Here we explore the results in more detail, finding an array of serious food security challenges.

The survey collected data from 2,699 households across 270 communities and 14 provinces. By focusing on five diverse agroecological zones, characterized by elevation and rainfall patterns, the survey sheds light on differences in household welfare and livelihoods across diverse geographies in PNG (Figure 1).