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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

Erick Boy

researcher spotlight

Erick Boy

Erick Boy is the Chief Nutritionist in the HarvestPlus section of the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. As head of nutrition for the HarvestPlus Program since 2008, he has led research that has generated scientific evidence on biofortified staple crops as efficacious and effective interventions to help address iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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Projects

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Papua New Guinea National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) have teamed up to support data-driven policy dialogue and formulation. This project is designed to provide an in-depth agricultural strategy report to provide the foundation for informing key agricultural development challenges and opportunities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Analysis for the report will draw from recent data collection efforts in PNG and utilize comparative analyses from other countries in the region to better evaluate the key factors of production to improve competitiveness within the country and inform investments and programs aimed to jumpstart the agricultural transformation process throughout all stages.

Research topics include:

Project duration: 2021 – 2022

Contact

Emily Schmidt

Funders

Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Australia High Commission (AHC) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Project partners

National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) of Papua New Guinea

National Research Institute (NRI) of Papua New Guinea

Publications

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Working Paper

Commercialization of Papua New Guinea’s vegetable sector: Identifying constraints using quantitative, qualitative, and large language model methods

2025Fang, Peixun; Anamo, Iga; Gimiseve, Harry; Hayoge, Glen; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily; Zhang, Xiaobo
Details

Commercialization of Papua New Guinea’s vegetable sector: Identifying constraints using quantitative, qualitative, and large language model methods

This paper evaluates the constraints within Papua New Guinea’s vegetable sector, drawing on large scale household surveys, extensive qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, and Large Language Model (LLM) methods. Our survey data reveal that vegetable production is ubiquitous, with almost all households surveyed (91%) growing at least one vegetable. Indigenous varieties, such as leafy greens (96%) and fresh beans (69%), are widely cultivated across regions, while high-value vegetables like onion (17%) and tomato (19%) show more regional concentration. Over half (53%) of PNG vegetable farmers sell their produce, with farmers located in the nonseasonal highlands agro-ecological area leading in market participation (66%), contributing to an overall commercialization rate of 24% (defined as the share of pro duction sold). However, modern input use, particularly improved seed adoption, significantly lags behind output commercialization in all agroecological zones except the islands survey areas. The quantitative analysis, using the PNG Rural Household Survey 2023, and the qualitative analysis, drawing from both manual review and LLM-assisted processing of in-depth interview notes, consistently identify poor feeder roads as critical bottlenecks for every stakeholder across PNG’s vegetable value chain. Beyond transportation, these interviews repeatedly highlighted persistent seed supply shortages and high seed costs as significant hurdles. Since PNG depends on imported vegetable seeds, several structural and procedural barriers contribute to these shortages. These include potentially arduous quarantine procedures, limited foreign exchange for seed imports, and cumbersome permit processes, often leaving major distributors with insufficient stock. These reported bottlenecks may contribute to the low improved seed adoption and use reflected in the household survey analysis.

Year published

2025

Authors

Fang, Peixun; Anamo, Iga; Gimiseve, Harry; Hayoge, Glen; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily; Zhang, Xiaobo

Citation

Fang, Peixun; Anamo, Iga; Gimiseve, Harry; Hayoge, Glen; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily; and Zhang, Xiaobo. 2025. Commercialization of Papua New Guinea’s vegetable sector: Identifying constraints using quantitative, qualitative, and large language model methods. Papua New Guinea Food Policy Strengthening Working Paper 7. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175558

Country/Region

Papua New Guinea

Keywords

Melanesia; Oceania; Asia; Vegetables; Large Language Models; Commercialization; Household Surveys; Artificial Intelligence

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Preferences for ecosystem payment programs in Papua New Guinea

2025Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily; Holtemeyer, Brian; Gimiseve, Harry; Safi, Wendy
Details

Preferences for ecosystem payment programs in Papua New Guinea

We evaluate forest landholders’ preferences to enter a hypothetical Payment for Ecosystem Service (PES) contract (i.e., voluntary carbon credit contract) and assess the relative importance of different program attributes that influence forest landholder preference for such contracts. When evaluating the attractiveness of PES contracts for forest landholders, analysis suggests that on average, forest landholders are not inclined to enter a PES contract. However, when evaluating differences among households, a variety of characteristics shape the willingness to accept a PES contract, including:  Landholders that are aware of climate change impacts and those from communities that previously participated in forest protection programs are more likely to accept a PES contract.  Households that use forested land for commercial logging or hunting grounds are more inclined to accept a PES contract, viewing these contracts as an opportunity to protect forest goods and services.  Households that rely on forested land for timber harvesting for personal building purposes are less likely to join a PES program, viewing contracts as restrictive to personal land use needs. When assessing different levels of contract attributes (e.g., payment amount, forest area requirement, and contract length), analysis suggests that forest landholders are more likely to accept a contract that:  Offers higher financial incentives  Requires half of their forested land to be under contract (compared to all of their forested land). On average, forest landholders require an additional annual compensation of $39.07 USD (152 PGK) per hectare to accept PES contracts that require full forested land preservation compared to preserving half of their forested land.

Year published

2025

Authors

Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily; Holtemeyer, Brian; Gimiseve, Harry; Safi, Wendy

Citation

Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily; Holtemeyer, Brian; Gimiseve, Harry; and Safi, Wendy. 2025. Preferences for ecosystem payment programs in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea Project Note 17. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173596

Country/Region

Papua New Guinea

Keywords

Asia; Melanesia; Ecosystem Management; Forestry; Carbon; Climate Change

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Climate Resilience

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Papua New Guinea: Systematic analysis of domestic production and world market shocks

2025Mukashov, Askar; Dorosh, Paul A.; Schmidt, Emily; Thurlow, James
Details

Papua New Guinea: Systematic analysis of domestic production and world market shocks

Using an economy-wide, multi-sectoral model, this study explores potential vulnerability of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to economic shocks and identifies factors that contribute most to economic uncertainty. Economic scenarios were developed using historical data on volatile domestic sectors (e.g., primary agriculture and hydropower electricity generation) and world prices of goods and services in which PNG trades. The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of PNG was used to simulate a range of potential economic outcomes under these scenarios. In addition, data mining and machine learning methods were applied to quantify the contribution of each shock to the uncertainty of economic outcomes. Key findings suggest that Papua New Guinea’s economy is predominantly exposed to external risks, with world prices and foreign capital volatility together accounting for approximately two-thirds of the potential variation in GDP and three-fourths of the potential variation in private consumption, poverty, and undernourishment (domestic production volatility contributes the remaining one-third and one-fourth, respectively). The current structure of the PNG economy underpins these results. While agriculture is the most uncertain sector, it is relatively less important compared to the overall economy; export earnings from energy and metals, as well as volatile foreign exchange capital inflows, play a much more significant role in the country’s current economic risks. Understanding how potential shocks might impact various segments of the PNG economy and population is a critical first step in facilitating discussions on relevant risk mitigation strategies, such as increasing sectoral productivity or diversifying production away from high-risk sectors.

Year published

2025

Authors

Mukashov, Askar; Dorosh, Paul A.; Schmidt, Emily; Thurlow, James

Citation

Mukashov, Askar; Dorosh, Paul A.; Schmidt, Emily; and Thurlow, James. 2025. Papua New Guinea: Systematic analysis of domestic production and world market shocks. Papua New Guinea Project Note 18. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173653

Country/Region

Papua New Guinea

Keywords

Oceania; Computable General Equilibrium Models; Domestic Production; Machine Learning; Shock; Vulnerability; World Markets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Climate Resilience

Record type

Brief

Blogs

Opportunities and challenges for coffee production in Papua New Guinea’s highlands
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 03, 2024

Opportunities and challenges for coffee production in Papua New Guinea’s highlands

By Rishabh Mukerjee, Helmtrude Sikas-Iha, and Damaris Warambukia

Survey insights on production, pests, and marketing.

Events

Informing agricultural investment strategy and food policy in PNG
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

October 13, 2022, 8:30 – 12:45 pm

Informing agricultural investment strategy and food policy in PNG

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the PNG National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) have teamed up to support data-driven policy dialogue and formulation in Papua New Guinea. This workshop aims to inform key agricultural development challenges, opportunities, and investments in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Presentations will discuss results from recent data collection efforts […]

Funders

Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Australia High Commission (AHC) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Team members

Emily Schmidt

Emily Schmidt

Senior Research Fellow, Development
Strategies and Governance

Peixun Fang

Peixun Fang

Senior Research Analyst, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Katrina Kosec

Katrina Kosec

Senior Research Fellow, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Paul Dorosh

Paul Dorosh

Senior Research Fellow , Foresight
and Policy Modeling

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Kristi Mahrt

Senior Research Analyst, Development
Strategies and Governance

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Raywin Ovah

Project Economist, National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI)

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