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Lack of data has hindered PNG's efforts against hunger and malnutrition
Emily Schmidt is a research fellow in the Development, Strategy and Governance Division of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington, D.C.
The canoe trip on the Ramu River takes nine long hours, but my enthusiasm increased as we approached small villages in the northern Papua New Guinea (PNG) lowlands. Upon arrival, we were greeted by children paddling and playing in wooden canoes and women washing sago (an important staple of the PNG plains) for meal preparation. When the roar of the diesel engine of the boat finally stopped on the small sandbar that was to serve as a pontoon for the next days, we were surrounded by an incredible silence that whispered of the isolated lifestyle and resistance of the villagers.
Last year, we spent three months collecting detailed household survey data as part of a research project on how rural communities are ensuring food security in the face of disasters. natural or other unforeseen shocks to household food production. After several months of data badysis, I recently returned to PNG to discuss the results of our study with government officials and development aid agencies. Papua New Guinea has about 7 million inhabitants, but it strives to ensure adequate nutrition for its citizens. One of the biggest problems in the country is the lack of data to support food security and nutrition indicators. With the growing threat of climate impacts, this challenge is becoming increasingly urgent. Rapid badessment of responses following PNG Crisis of food production during the El Niño campaign 2015/16 (El Niño Southern Oscillation) noted that the lack of data made it difficult to design and mobilize effective systems for distributing food aid to affected populations.
My task for this research project was to determine the extent to which households were able to effectively provide the quantity and quality of food needed by their families. In doing so, we conducted a survey of rural households with 1,026 households, four lowlands of the countryEast Sepik, West Sepik, Madang and South Bougainville (Bougainville Autonomous Region), which asked questions about household consumption and spending, agricultural production practices and livelihood activities.
The survey data confirmed some of the concerns that villagers shared with me during my visit to their communities. A successful harvest is essential for survival in rural PNG. Descriptive survey results suggest that rural populations are vulnerable to climate shocks resulting in crop losses. About 70% of the total value of the food consumed is produced by themselves. When I asked the villagers about their experience at the last El Niño event, many said that they had lost loved ones due to lack of food or the multiplication of disease incidents.
However, not everyone had the same story and the survey data provided a more nuanced picture of food security and nutrition in the surveyed villages. We found that about 44% of respondents are poor (with total expenditures below the national poverty line or $ 1.21 per day). Many of the members of poor households do not consume enough calories to lead healthy lives (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Caloric intake, by expenditure category and food source
A even a greater proportion of people do not eat enough of "right »calories, the poor and non-poor do not consume the recommended daily intake of protein. The lack of sufficient quantity and quality of calories can lead PNG tos the growth and development results that make young children think. About 29% of children under 5 in the sample were stunted (too short for their age) and about 7% was wasted (low weight for their size). Stunting leads to poor school performance, lower labor productivity and increased risk of health problems throughout life. Decay is an indicator of acute malnutrition that has prevented weight gain or weight loss and, in extreme cases, can lead to death.
Improving data systems within PNG will improve the overall development trajectory of the country in a number of ways: by making emergency badistance more effective and better targeted to populations in need; inform program design so that investments have a significant impact on poverty reduction and food security; and inform government funding and development badistance through robust evaluations of program activities and results. Building on this important data collection effort, future badyzes will examine the correlates of poverty and under-nutrition in the survey areas. In addition, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides for working with government partners to put in place a data system to better monitor household needs and food security levels across the country.
Ongoing data collection and badysis is essential to achieving the results and objectives outlined in the PNG document. strategic development plan. Equally important is concerted efforts to build institutional and individual capacity to support evidence-based policy badysis and dialogue. Through these efforts, improved data collection and badysis can serve as a basis for effective action to reduce poverty and undernutrition in Papua New Guinea.
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