Comparing training preferences by gender in Central Province, Papua New Guinea

This paper presents the similarities and differences in the training needs of men and women farmers involved in horticulture, from case study villages in PNG’s Central Province. It seemed there could be differences in training needs and priorities among men and women, given the observed gendered differences in horticultural tasks traditionally undertaken in this province. Typically, men are involved with soil preparation and planting, while both men and women are involved with irrigation and crop management. Women are substantially involved in production, and many are also engaged in the marketing of fresh produce, particularly in the local informal markets.

From interviews conducted in early 2011, we hypothesised there could be differences in training priorities among younger and older people as well as between women and men. To test this, we conducted separate mother/daughter and father/son workshops, using collaborative problem solving to identify and prioritise training needs. The results demonstrated that the training priorities of older women from Rigo-Koiari village are of a higher order than those from Bautama village, where basic horticultural and crop-management training was paramount. Older and younger women from Rigo-Koiari had different training priorities, as did older and younger men from Bautama. However, there was no difference in training priorities among the older men from Bautama, Rigo-Koiari and Sogeri villages. A companion paper in these proceedings (Seta-Waken et al. 2013) examines the subsequent training conducted for women smallholders, which was informed by the needs identified in this paper.