Improving the smallholder balsa value chain in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea

Ochroma pyramidale (balsa) is a fast-growing tree, grown as a plantation crop by both companies and smallholders in East New Britain Province (ENB) of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The ENB balsa industry is entirely export-oriented, producing 9% of the world’s processed balsa. Balsa products have outstanding strength-for-weight qualities and an increasing market in high-technology composite materials, such as wind turbine blades and transportation applications. Ochroma pyramidale is attractive to smallholders because it is a relatively low labour-input crop with competitive returns and a relatively short (5–6 years) harvest cycle. There are c. 6200 ha of balsa plantations in ENB, including c. 1900 ha grown and managed by c. 1500 individual smallholder farmers. A workforce of some 2500–3000 is engaged in balsa harvest, transport, processing and export in ENB. These activities operate under the regulatory oversight of the PNG Forest Authority, which also plays an ‘honest broker’ role in transactions between processing companies and smallholders. The major challenges faced by the ENB balsa industry relate to balsa plantation productivity and sustainability, market access in the context of forest certification and legality verification, and product development and diversification. This paper reports outcomes of a research project supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, in which Australian and PNG researchers worked with the ENB balsa industry to address these challenges. The project conducted balsa sector surveys and silvicultural experiments, introduced and tested genetic resources, and undertook both knowledge and product development for the industry. Key research outcomes included the development of a ‘smallholder friendly’ silvicultural regime that obviates the need for thinning or refilling, and should deliver greater merchantable volume and value recovery for growers; an updated Balsa Manual from which smallholder learning resources were developed and integrated into an established ENB agricultural training program; confirmation that harvesting recovery from smallholder plantations was consistent with log quality requirements, and that harvesting and transport activities were operating efficiently; and the development of new balsa panel products particularly suited to apartment interiors. Research also facilitated the adoption of certification in the ENB balsa sector, and identified targeted regulatory reform as desirable to support the continuing development of the ENB balsa industry.