Rob Small's Masters Thesis: Uptake and the success of insect ...

Due to PNG’s dependence on natural resources for its economy it has been somewhat
difficult for successive governments to adhere to the goal of sustainable development. After
twenty years of independence, an appraisal was made of the ‘environmental friendliness’
impact of current development practices in Papua New Guinea. The report noted that “In
some areas PNG’s natural resources have been ruthlessly destroyed by largely foreign
companies which have not contributed sufficiently to PNG’s prosperity…They have been
permitted to do so by a corrupt and selfish political leadership which has facilitated such
short term plundering of PNG’s natural resource heritage (Planning the New Century
Committee, 1998).
Conclusion
Papua New Guinea finds itself today with dependence on natural resource exploitation,
inequitable distribution of wealth and increasing urban populations with associated crime
and deprivation. Also its position on the UNDP Human Development Index has declined
over the past decade from 126 to a current position of 133 out of 179 countries (UNDP,
1993 & 2003).
This brief review of the history of development within PNG indicates the difficult and
perhaps impossible situation facing grassroots income generation projects, such as the
Insect Farming and Trading Agency.
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