Landowners receive titles

A TOTAL of 21 local landowner groups in Markham have received their government-recognised land titles after a 10-year wait.
This is a significant step forward formalising land ownership and empowering local communities to engage in agribusiness ventures.
Markham district development authority (DDA) handed over the incorporated land group (ILG) titles in a ceremony at Mutzing Station yesterday.
The handover reflected the culmination of years of effort in education, collaboration, and implementation of actions through mutual partnership work between DDA and Grow PNG.
In 2021, both stakeholders embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to transform land management and agricultural development in the district, starting with the development and launch of the Land Access Guide (LAG).
This was followed by the launching and rollout of the LAG training programme; the guide being a comprehensive manual with relevant chapters, including land regulatory context, land access through customary land, and agreement structures for investment.
The LAG development involved a group of stakeholder consultations with government agencies, the Morobe government, existing agribusiness investors, local businesses, farmer groups and cooperatives.
“The 21 ILG titles handover ceremony was a success deliverable from the LAG training programme,” GPNG said in a media statement.
“Two pilot training sessions were conducted using the guide as a follow-up from the launch in 2021; first pilot training targeted the 21 ILG executives, recommended by the DDA with an aim to gauge their understanding on the benefits of unlocking their land for agricultural development.”
This led to two stakeholder dialogues facilitated by Grow PNG in 2022 between Ramu Agri Industries, the DDA, 21 ILG executives and the provincial government on partnerships with Rail on palm oil development.
Grow PNG continued its work in facilitating engagement dialogues and providing guidance to the DDA and all relevant stakeholder involved until the titles were handed over to the DDA by the Morobe government this year.
Grow PNG’s LAG training programme is now being incorporated into a more holistic community entry awareness (CEA) programme that will be rolled out this year, as the next step.
“Markham Valley has been a region of rich agricultural potential, but it has also faced numerous obstacles with issues such as land disputes, logistical difficulties, and socio-cultural misunderstandings often hindering sustainable agricultural development.
“The CEA programme is to educate local landowners, government officials, and potential investors on the guidelines and processes required to establish sustainable agriculture investment and partnership with landowners.”