The Change in weather pattern, where there is high rainfall in a short period of time and prolonged drought, has caused a lot of communities in Papua New Guinea to suffer. This is all attributed to climate change and the shift in global weather patterns.

Communities across the world including Papua New Guinea, are forced to adapt to this new weather phenomenon. Rural communities in Papua New Guinea often lack the capacity to mitigate the outcomes caused by Climate Change.

An initiative by the PNG university of Natural Resources and Environment, as part of their community outreach under the Kairak Center for sustainable rural development, is the Community Empowerment for Climate Change for farming communities.

The University is making sure that communities in East New Britain are aware of the adverse effects of Climate Change. So that they can make appropriate changes to mitigate and adapt to their changing environment.

Project officer Simon Nakaiban says communities need to understand that Climate Change is real and is affecting communities and livelihoods. He added that most in the community are slowly coming to terms in understanding the severity of the effects of changes in Global weather patterns. But some very remote communities still need to fully grasp the messaging of climate change.

Simon Nakaiban explained that as part of their outreach they focus on awareness on food security as one aspect of mitigating climate change. That means introducing improved variety of crops like Sweet Potato and Casava, which Nakaiban pointed out as being drought tolerant.

He also added that they are conducting surveys and collecting valuable data that will be shared among stakeholders. The center is working to make sure that some of their findings can help influence some of the policy decisions made at the bureaucratic level.

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