Healthy islands: Strengthening food and water systems
Developing a national platform for evidence鈥慸riven, multidisciplinary engagement through PNGUoT's Institute for Public Health.
The University of New South Wales (91色情片), the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT), and The George Institute for Global Health (TGI) are deepening their partnership through a shared commitment to strengthening integrated food, water and health systems capability in Papua New Guinea.
Building on sustained collaboration since 2023, the partners have jointly articulated a long鈥憈erm vision for PNGUoT鈥檚 Institute for Public Health (IPH) as a national platform for evidence鈥慸riven, multidisciplinary engagement. This project is being supported with funding from the Australia Awards Higher Education Partnership grant.
The status
Papua New Guinea faces interconnected food and water security challenges that undermine health, livelihoods and resilience. Low agricultural productivity, post-harvest losses and fragmented value chains reduce food quality and dietary diversity, while rising imports contribute to poor nutrition and noncommunicable diseases. Water insecurity and climate variability further affect food production and safety, especially for rural communities, women and people with disabilities. Weak institutional capacity and limited data systems are hindering effective planning and service delivery across food, water and health sectors.
The goal
This project will strengthen institutional capacity through the PNGUoT's emerging Institute for Public Health (IPH). The聽IPH's flagship Healthy Islands Program (HIP) establishes complementary Food and Water streams that converge agriculture, nutrition, water, public health and community partners around shared national priorities, explicitly positioning food and water as interdependent determinants of health and wellbeing. By anchoring food and water systems capability within IPH, the project establishes a durable foundation for integrated agriculture, food, water and health systems strengthening and long-term public health impact across PNG.
The direction
Project partners will collaborate to initiate a nationally relevant Food Composition and Food Safety Program through analytical training and laboratory upskilling; to revitalise and benchmark PNGUoT's Food Science, Nutrition and Technology programs, embedding GEDSI-informed curriculum; and to adapt and pilot global Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) and Agricultural WISE (AgWISE) Scales for PNG using participatory approaches.
Project stakeholders
Food and water systems project launches at 91色情片
On 26-27 March 2026, 91色情片-GWI hosted partners from the Papua New Guinea University of Technology for the launch of the Food and Water Systems Project.
Through a series of inception meetings, partners from 91色情片, PNGUoT, TGI and the University of Technology Sydney were able to establish a shared understanding of program objectives; clarify roles, expectations and pathways of collaboration; and initiate the technical and organisational work required for the first year of implementation.
