Farmers in the five wards of Inland Baining in Gazelle District, East New Britain, are set to receive cocoa trees starting on Monday, July 22nd, until Friday, July 27th. This initiative follows a successful three-day training session on cocoa management practices and production. The training, part of the GEF 7 FOLUR (Forest, Land use, and Restoration) project, is a partnership between the PNG Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The training, held recently from July 17th to 19th at the Gazelle International Hotel in the city of Kokopo, was conducted in collaboration with the Cocoa Board of PNG. Farmers from the wards of Alakasam, Burit, Hetwara, Malasaet, Kasaska, and Rangulit participated, learning essential skills to enhance their cocoa farming practices. Albina Rarao, Acting Regional Coordinator for the Cocoa Board in the New Britain region, highlighted the urgent need for this initiative. "East New Britain cocoa production has dropped from 20, 000 to the present 6, 000 tons," she said. Currently, East New Britain ranks fourth in cocoa production behind the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB), East Sepik, and Morobe. Papua New Guinea as a whole produces 40, 000 tons of cocoa, equivalent to 1 percent of the world's cocoa production. The distribution of cocoa trees aims to revive cocoa farming in the region. "We will distribute 200 to 300 cocoa trees to each family in the wards. But the distribution will depend on the availability of land and labor," said Gazelle District Rural Development Officer Henry Kahoraso. Rarao emphasized the importance of maintaining high-quality production, stating, “The quality status of cocoa that is produced in PNG is 80 percent. Despite the low production of cocoa in the country, we produce good quality cocoa, but the quality status that we are in can be ruined if we do not process and produce our cocoa well.” Most cocoa farmers in East New Britain prefer planting clones over hybrids due to their higher yield. This distribution and training are steps toward revitalizing the province's cocoa industry and ensuring its long-term sustainability. Gazelle District Rural Development Officer, Henry Kahoraso said that the people in the chosen wards have land that is unoccupied and thus, they will be distributed cocoa to plant. “We will distribute 200 to 300 cocoa trees to each family in the wards. But the distribution will depend on the availability of land and labor.”