Nutritional Effects of Export-Crop Production in Papua New Guinea: A Review of the Evidence

Abstract

The effects of cash cropping on nutrition in Papua New Guinea are reviewed. The interpretation of the available evidence is complicated by the introduction of cash cropping simultaneously with services such as health and education of the rural population. However, there is indication that the growth of children improved over the period in which cash cropping increased, particularly in the highlands, where, as a result of the later introduction of cash crops, more baseline data are available. There is no reason to believe that the same effect did not occur in the lowlands, where the infant mortality rate fell progressively over the same period. There is also evidence of an increase in the height and weight of adults, as well as an increase in the prevalence of degenerative diseases. Programmes need to be developed that retain the important benefits of child health and at the same time arrest the increasing prevalence of degenerative diseases in adults.