The farmers that supply Stop & Shop Outlooks with fresh produce, are now left without a market and a steady income. This after the devastation of Black Wednesday 10th of January 2024, in Port Moresby where there was widespread civil unrest and the looting and destruction of a number of CPL’s shopping outlets. This is the present state of affairs, as relayed by CPL’s Project Manager Mr. Pierre Dobunaba, during an open forum that was jointly hosted by the Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council (CIMC), Institute of National Affairs (INA) and the Department of Agriculture Livestock (DAL) at the Lamana Hotel in Port Moresby, to discuss means and ways to safeguard the food supply chain. Mr. Pierre Dobunaba said Black Wednesday saw immense destruction and damage to 4 of their shopping outlets, including North Waigani, Rainbow, Badili and Harbour City SnS, which is one of their biggest outlets in the city. This now means the fresh food supply chain to these outlets has been disrupted and local farmers, who are the main suppliers, left high and dry. The Project Manager went onto explain that since they are obviously a business, SnS can only take on so much of the total fresh produce that is brought in by the farmers. “These farmers have been planting for months in advance and now that the fresh food supply chain has been disrupted, they are uncertain where they will go to sell their produce now.” Mr. Dobunaba also revealed that this current situation has also set CPL back in all the work they have been doing in the agriculture space. “We have been on the scene for some time now, working in agriculture development and we face a lot of challenges…including challenges of logistics, and providing farming machinery and tools.” He indicated that they at CPL sees it necessary to address these challenges to safeguard the fresh food supply chain in the future. “We have been working with the farmers with minimal support from the government and that is why these kinds of meetings are crucial, so we can all get together, share views and identify pathways to cooperate and address some of these common issues and ensure we build a more economical and sustainable agriculture sector.” Freight subsidy, according to Mr. Dobunaba, is one such measure where the government has been working with the private sector, to benefit all concerned with the private sector, to benefit all the parties involved in the supply chain. Despite the shortcomings of the government, CPL through their SnS outlets, are committed to continue their work in the space of agriculture. “We have continued to work with farmers, and we have seen them go from backyard food producers to established business entities, where they are now employing other people to run their businesses.” “This is where we realized that we are impacting the lives of rural farmers.” “One of the proudest things that CPL can say for itself is that, before we got into agriculture and developing the farmers, we were selling 80% imports and 20% local produce. Today, we are selling 80% local produce and 20% imported.” Mr. Dobunaba capped off his remarks with an invitation from CPL, for improved partnerships, not just with the government, but all other relevant stakeholders, to cooperate and collaborate in safeguarding the food supply chain in the country.