Drought in Papua New Guinea
Regions in Papua New Guinea have been experiencing a significant drought over the past few months, with conditions likely to worsen. Megan Krolik, Disaster Risk Reduction Coordinator for the Pacific region, explains the situation.
“Currently in the Pacific, we’re experiencing an El Niño event, is a cyclical weather phenomenon which occurs roughly every seven years. During an El Niño event, the western Pacific – including countries such as Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Australia have less rainfall, more droughts, bushfires, hot temperatures, or extreme fluctuations in weather.
“At the moment, Papua New Guinea is experiencing a significant drought, and it is likely to worsen. It has been said that it is worse than the drought of 1997-1998, which also took place during an El Niño year and killed thousands of people due to a lack of food and water.” According to reports from the Government of Papua New Guinea, more than 1,842,000 people have already been affected by this extreme weather.
“Schools are closing because there’s not enough water for children to be at schools, and children also have to help their families by going to find water in the afternoon,” said Megan. “Some of the health clinics are also closed for half days because the nurses and the doctors also need to find water. There are reports of at least one hospital in the Highlands which has closed because there is not enough water to stay open.”
The drought has wide-reaching effects. As food sources have been depleting, insect infestations have increased and are targeting the remaining crops. There is also the increased risk of disease, as the lack of water means that people are unable to practice good hygiene and sanitation practices. It is also noted that the drought, which is mainly affecting the highland areas of Papua New Guinea, could force communities to move downwards closer towards the ocean. Such relocation could lead to tensions and conflict over access to land and resources.
“Indications suggest that the El-Nino could extend well in to 2016,” said Megan. “But even if the drought breaks early next year, farmers won’t be able to replant until the next sowing season, or until the rains return, so it will be at least six months to a year until the food gardens start replenishing and crops return to normal. For root crops such as sweet potato, a PNG staple, it could take up to two years to fully recover.”
Preparing for a worsening situation
With the expectation of a worsening situation, Caritas Australia has been working with our partner, Caritas Papua New Guinea, and the most affected Dioceses in Papua New Guinea, to begin preparations for an emergency response.
During a one day workshop in Mt Hagen facilitated by Caritas Papua New Guinea, Caritas Australia and Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, representatives from four different dioceses in the Highlands gathered to discuss the current situation in each of their districts. They identified which areas were hardest hit, and at high risk. The participants also took part in a mapping exercise to identify what assets or resources they already had in their community which would help them through the drought.
The assets they listed ranged from the mountains and the different trees that grow in the Highlands, to crops that they hadn’t previously considered to be drought resistant”, said Megan.
“They even identified the ‘Highland spirit’ as what makes Highlanders, Highlanders. That kind of inner strength, practical-ness, back-to-nature quality was constantly identified as important. Family and community associations were another resource, as well as the Catholic radio network – even though it’s only partially operational, the group still identified it as a valuable resource. The Highlands is also renowned as an agricultural hub and so the fertile soil of the Highlands was also acknowledged as another resource.”
This approach of identifying existing assets or resources gives communities something they can start working with. “People are always surprised about assets,” said Megan. “So when we started talking about it, the group were incredibly invigorated by the idea that they had heaps of assets…. It shifted the thinking a little – from a position of ‘this is taking things away from us’ to ‘somethings have been taken, but other things are still there’.”
Caritas Australia is working closely with Caritas Papua New Guinea to develop a program that will provide support to communities during the drought. Caritas Australia is also responding through the existing Church Partnerships Program (CPP), which aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of the seven main PNG churches to deliver services to communities.