Kokopo based Growers Association Incorporation (GAI) has achieved a milestone, producing chickens locally and selling for affordable prices to the Kokopo communities. The project has been undergoing progress and is a few steps ahead in ensuring that East New Britain province is self-sufficient on food, and that is the consumption of chickens. The GAI poultry venture began with the support of the World Bank funded program through the PACD (Papua New Guinea Agriculture Commercialization and Diversification)-Cocoa project where they are one of the eighteen partnerships in the country assisted with funding to roll out poultry project as well as cocoa in the Duke of York Island of Kokopo District. Under the leadership of Executive Manager, Simon Arnold, they are not only assisting farmers to plant cocoa and farm poultry but also to treat these opportunities as a business or small SME and manage them sustainably to support their immediate families, wards and more widely. GAI has been supported with just over a million kina to roll out their various activities in their outline contract and budget. The poultry project has 100 farmers and 200 farmers in the Duke of York Island in Kokopo District. The process of the poultry project starts with the purchase of the chicks, followed by the supply to the farmers and when the chicks reach the weight requirement, GAI then harvests from them and process or help with the marketing. Mr. Arnold also stated that currently growers' poultry team are harvesting chickens from their farmers, slaughtered, clean, processed, prepare and packed at their small processing plant facility that was purchased with the financial support from PACD-Cocoa PMU. The chickens are currently selling at K22 per kilo as well as packed 500 gram for K10 and 800 grams for K15 plus a variety of price ranger at the GAI office in Kokopo near the Cocoa Board office. This exercise has brought a lot of excitement to the farmers as well as people in the province, as this is actually the first of its kind for an organization helping smallholder farmers is charting a new course for sustainable farming and diversification and commercialization. Moreover, GAI is engaging youths from the surrounding community to do little work in the facility such as cleanliness, security, carpenter work and working inside the slaughterhouse slaughtering and preparing the chickens after they undergone some trainings. The mini slaughterhouse set up at Vimi plantation in Kokopo District was once a hot spot area of social issues such as hold ups, stealing and has also seen many youths turn to social issues to survive. Many of them have lost their lives where they were shot by police. With the hardship faced by the youths, GAI is now engaging a good number of them to work in the mini slaughterhouse. The youths are now raising poultry and plan to replicate what PACD GAI project has started off them with and aim that all families in Vimi will have a poultry house. Mr. Arnold added that they are just waiting for the rightful authorities to give them permission and in which they can then proceed with proper packaging and selling of chickens. Meanwhile, a farmer, Ignasia Ginigil has expressed her gratitude to the World Bank through the PACD Cocoa project for supporting her with her poultry project. She also thanked GAI for their continuous field visits and trainings that have put confidence in them to pursue this project for the first time. “I am a cocoa farmer but now with this new poultry project, I am happy and thankful that this is another income revenue for my family to sustain our livelihood in these challenging times.” Furthermore, the project initiatives aim to increase cocoa production and improve livelihoods and signifies a significant step towards enhancing agricultural sustainability and economics in PNG’s rural communities.