This thesis was submitted at the University of Sydney and was awarded the degree of Master of Arts (Pass) in Religious Studies. This study, conducted by Robert Leonard Pulsford, provides details and analysis of the Motu Koita traditional belief systems to general health and sickness. The study details the attitudes and their effects on introduced Christian faith and Western medicine. The cross-cultural health and religious situations witnessed by village-based community workers, including professionally trained doctors, nurses and welfare officers, provides insights into health practices. The author’s vast experience of working in the field of Papua New Guinea’s public health system provides a greater sensitivity to the sacred folklores and myths of the Motu Koita people by surveying the social, geographic and economic aspects as well as describing the ceremonial rituals of pre contact times. The study offers a comparison of the role of village diviners, magicians and the like over Western medicine.

The thesis includes nine pictorial images or illustrations which add valuable dimension to the religious and social interactions of the Motu Koita people, in particular Pari Hanua or village people. These images are described as:

• A black and white photograph of old Pari village of traditionally thatched roofed houses. Photo taken about 1926 and a hand drawn map of Pari village done in February 1965.
• Black and white photograph of the Kidukidu stones with two Pari men squatting between them and a poster drawing based on the legend showing a woman (Ugava Vaina) suckling a Kidu Kidu (tuna fish).
• Four photographs demonstrating the Pari village ceremonial Tuna (Kidukidu) fishing carried out on the 8th August 1986.
• Copy of an old photograph of Hanuabada Women’s Cricket team taken before 1940.
• Hanuabada woman in traditional (Sene) dancing costume of necklaces of dog’s teeth and seeds, betel nut and headdress of feathers.
• Hanuabada man Revo Pita in Motu traditional (Sene) costume of the pectoral ornament of pig’s tusks, necklace of coral, headband and feathers.
• Pari village women and men celebrating Easter by singing and dancing to the Prophet (Peroveta) song rhythms dressed in modern floral outfits.
• Pari village elder, Airi Airi dressed in floral outfit dancing to the Peroveta rhythms.
• Pari village women with dishes of cooked food on their heads proceeding with much singing to the communal table for sharing with everyone at the Easter celebrations on 13th April 1968.
• Burial of the Pari village elder of Airi Airi Rahobada on the 9th October 1969. Rev Puka Oala reading from the Bible in Motu conducting the burial service.

The Cocoa Board of Papua New Guinea was first established under the Cocoa Act 1974 and was then known as the Cocoa Marketing Board of Papua New Guinea. The Act was revised in 1981 and the name changed to the Cocoa Board of Papua New Guinea.

The main functions of the PNG Cocoa Board are to control and regulate the growing, processing, marketing and export of cocoa beans; establish price stabilization, price equalization and stockholding arrangements within the cocoa industry, promote the consumption of Papua New Guinea cocoa beans and cocoa products; promote research and development programmes for the benefit of the PNG cocoa industry; and carry out the obligations of the State under any international agreement relating to cocoa.

The PNG Cocoa Board also collects statistics on PNG Cocoa production, documented PNG cocoa exports, researched international cocoa farming and production practices and distributed educational material to New Guinea farmers on best practice farming methods for cocoa production. The PNG Cocoa Board produced publications and booklets, often in English and Pidgin and sometimes Motu, on various aspects relating to cocoa production.

This collection includes a selection of publications produced by the Papua New Guinea Cocoa Board (1979-1996). It includes Annual Reports (1979-1989), Board meeting papers (1985-1993), administrative, marketing and research papers (1982-1996), statistical reports (1990-1996), market reports (1992-1997), publications by the PNG Cocoa and Coconut Research Institute (1986-1992), manuals and reports from the Cocoa Quality Improvement Project (1987-1993) and other publications on cocoa production and distribution and PNG agriculture in general (1980-1993).

PNG Cocoa most likely came from Samoa in the early 20th Century. In 1844 Germany annexed New Guinea and took large numbers of New Guinea labourers to work on German plantations in Samoa. By 1900 there were well established shipping routes between Samoa and New Guinea. It is likely that a German company based in Samoa transported cocoa seedlings to New Guinea on the boats used for recruiting and returning New Guinea labourers.

Cocoa was primarily grown on plantations until WWII in New Guinea. From the early 1950s cocoa was developed as a smallholder crop and a plantation cop. The most extensive early development was in the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain. Other early cocoa plantations were in North Solomons and the Northern District (Oro Province).

In the early 21st Century, cocoa continues to be the most important export cash crop of smallholder farmers in the wet lowlands. Over 90% of PNG cocoa is produced by smallholders. Many Papua New Guinea women participate in cocoa farming and production in PNG. Although PNG contributes less than 2% to the world cocoa market it has established an international reputation for quality, attracting 90% of a premium for fine and flavor cocoa.

Resources: http://www.cocoaboard.org.pg/