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Dry
weather has gripped much of Papua New Guinea in recent months,
while frosts in the last fortnight in the country's highland
regions have destroyed vital food supplies, the government said
late on Monday.
The El Nino is typically linked to dryness and frosts are often
an early symptom of the phenomenon, weather experts say.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill warned of an escalation of
unfavorable conditions across the rest of Papua New Guinea as
the El Nino strengthens over the next few months.
"This drought has the potential to be worse than 1997 and 1998,"
he said.
A state of emergency has already been declared in Enga and
Southern highlands provinces in Papua New Guinea.
The highland provinces of Papua New Guinea are a key coffee
producing region, one of the country's few commodities that are
exported. Papua New Guinea accounts for approximately 1 percent
of global coffee supplies, the World Bank Estimates.
Aid workers said it was too early to assess the damage to the
country's coffee industry, but added that Papua New Guinea would
face a potential humanitarian emergency if O'Neil's assessment
comes to pass.
"Everyone has their own garden and they rely very heavily on it
for food. If their gardens are destroyed by frost or it becomes
very dry because of a lack of water then there could be a
significant proportion of the population in food stress," said
Blossum Gilmour, CARE Papua New Guinea's assistant country
director.
Papua New Guinea's agricultural sector accounts for
approximately 25 percent of the country's gross domestic
product, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Michael Perry and Himani
Sarkar)
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