With the assistance of Public-Private partnership, mothers at Minj Town in Jiwaka Province can now sell their vegetables under proper shelter.
Molka Lodge at Minj has sponsored the construction of a new market worth over K60,000.
The people of Jiwaka Province witnessed the opening on Monday.
Four years of being a province of its own, and Jiwaka has seen gradual changes. Changes from infrastructure buildings to people’s mindsets.
At the opening, farmers were told to farm and produce more.
Mothers who sell their fresh produce under umbrellas were dressed in their cultural costumes to show their appreciation. Jiwaka Province is known for being one of the Five Agricultural Provinces in Papua New Guinea.
Most of the fresh vegetables, including cash crops such as coffee, are grown in Jiwaka.
Most of the people in the Province depend highly on subsistence farming to earn a living, as well as to buy their children’s school fees.
Farmers have urged businesses and the government to support the agriculture industry.
The owner of Molka Lodge, Gabriel Kum, and his wife, Julie Gabriel, said that they always see mothers selling food under broken umbrellas in good or bad weather, just to put food on the table, and this has urged them to build their new market.