Communities in Morobe Province are among the first recipients of 70 solar-powered rice mills funded under the Papua New Guinea-Australia Incentive Fund.
Fourteen rice mills were handed over to the people of Mutzing in Markham, Wampit in Huon District, and Menyamya District by representatives from the Governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia and the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) last week.
The rice mills will be delivered to communities across the province with funding from a K2.5 million Incentive Fund grant which aims to ensure long term food security by decreasing reliance on imported rice.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Julie Bishop and Honorable Vice-Minister Senator Concetta Ferrivantti–Wells, Minister for Development for the Pacific officially launched the Solar Rice Mill Project on 9 March 2017 in Lae, PNG in partnership with PIFON’s member–PNG Women in Agriculture (PNG WiA).
The “Solar Rice Mill Project” is a (DFAT) PNG Incentive fund co-funded by PNG National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) and TRUKAI Rice Industries which is not only a major rice distributor in PNG but also a major private sector funder and sponsor of PNG WIA. The project is in support of women in solar rice milling in PNG with PNG WiA being the recipient of 80 solar rice mills with a value of K2.5 million (AU$2 million).
