Papua New Guinea | Poverty | Health | Malnourishment

• Lack of access to public services such as healthcare, secondary schools
• Minimal income-generating opportunities
• Many children are sick and malnourished

• Lack of transportation and roads
• Little knowledge of health and hygiene
• Little of knowledge of home gardens for nutrition
• Climate variability changes the pattern of dry and wet seasons and negatively impacts food production and collection
• increase in heat enhances malaria bone mosquitoes that makes children and adults sick

These challenges lead to increased poverty, the inability to buy basic household goods, and the inability to get products to market before spoiling. Children’s lack of education and malnourishment leads to a reduction in their ability to develop and prosper as adults, and also reduces the ability of adults to lead the productive, meaningful, prosperous lives they need to leave the cycle of poverty and contribute to the development of their communities.

Adaptation. Collection of fruits, nuts and other forest products on seasonal basis have ceased due to the change in pattern of dry and wet seasons. Seasonal gardening & harvesting is nonexistent, people have adapted to changes. Increased species migration of lower to next higher elevation causes sicknesses such as malaria, thus putting financial burden for families to afford healthcare, transportation and other associated costs in such remote places that disproportionally lack funds.