USAID Papua New Guinea Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) Signs REAL Impact as Full Implementing Partner
News Highlights October 6, 2020
USAID today announced that its USAID Papua New Guinea (PNG) Lukautim Graun Program (LGP)
managing partner, Cardno International Development (Cardno), has signed REAL Impact (REAL) as a full implementing partner under the LGP to focus on accelerating MSME and livelihood development
in PNG’s creative industries.
Behind agriculture, the artisan ‘creative industries’ is the second-largest employer in the developing world, with an estimated market size of US$32 billion. Globally, artisans are major contributors to the world’s high-end fashion, textile and homewares industry, yet sustainable market access is almost nonexistent for PNG artisan communities – despite being one of the most diverse in the world with an estimated 800 -1000 different groups and styles of expression.
PNG artisans are proud master craftspeople boasting centuries-old skills in weaving, carving and pottery, textiles, basketry, jewelry and tapa cloth-making. However, due to a raft of challenges, including lack of infrastructure (from road to transport), lack of access to basic equipment including warehousing, lack of capital and logistic support, they have been unable to harness their rich artisan assets to produce product for global markets.
To address these issues, Cardno International Development (Cardno) has partnered with REAL Impact under the USAID Papua New Guinea (PNG) Lukautim Graun Program (LGP). The LPG is a US$23 million biodiversity and gender empowerment program that is being implemented through a consortium of partners led by Cardno. The partners include Care International, The Nature Conservancy, the PNG Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (in the YUS Conservation Area), the Wildlife Conservation Society and now, REAL Impact. The program’s conservation focus is in the provinces that cover the Bismarck Forest Corridor, the Ridge to Reef area in Madang, and the YUS conservation area (Yapno, Uruwa and Som) in Morobe Province. The LGP is in a unique position to link conservation-based livelihood creation with women’s economic empowerment due to the blending of biodiversity and W-GDP funding into a coordinated implementation program. Cardno International Development, Chief of Party, Maurice Knight says, “As the leader of USAID’s PNG Lukautim Graun Program, Cardno chose to partner with REAL and the Government of PNG to chase a share of the global US$32 billion artisan market and deliver sustainable, natural resource-based livelihood creation for the people of PNG.”
REAL Impact has been working in PNG’s creative industry for the past four years and, despite encountering many hurdles, has proven its minimum viable business model, from the creation of supply chains to the delivery of PNG designers’ products to clients in the US, Australia, Japan and Europe. Harnessing the support of the LPG and its consortium of partners will help grow this successful modelling.
REAL Impact’s CEO, Virginia Bruce, is incredibly excited to be partnering with USAID’s PNG LGP to address the gaps in the current system between international development, PNG government capacity and that of purely commercial ventures. Virginia Bruce says, “REAL Impact’s work in PNG for the past four years has directly impacted more than four PNG MSMEs and 200 artisans in the MSMEs’ provinces, generating economic and social opportunities where they did not previously exist. By partnering with USAID we can scale our work by implementing our design-led system change to create inclusive and equitable livelihoods in PNG. By combining top-down, commercial, demand-led thinking with bottom-up, capacity developmental, supply-led thinking, we will activate high-impact value chains globally that deliver inclusive social and sustainable economic development and profit where it is needed.”
REAL Impact is currently working with USAID’s LGP on a soon-to-be-launched campaign that will champion Papua New Guinea’s vibrant and diverse artisan skills to drive development of the nation’s creative economy.
REAL Impact will operate under a sub agreement with USAID’s PNG Lukautim Graun Program as a partnership, led by Cardno International Development, with a focus on sustainable, natural resource based livelihood creation.
| PARTNERSHIPS | MEDIA INQUIRIES |
| Virginia Bruce | Jane Morey |
| CEO | Director |
| REAL Impact E: virginia.bruce@realsocialimpact.com M: +61 415 508 442 |
Morey Media E: jane@moreymedia.com.au M: +61 416 097 678 |
CARDNO
Maurice Knight
Chief of Party
Cardno International Development
E: info@pngbiod.com
USAID LGP
USAID LGP
The USAID PNG Lukautim Graun Program (LGP) empowers traditional landowners in Papua New Guinea to manage their communal land. The program is funded by USAID and implemented by managing partner, Cardno International Development (Cardno). It aims to support the Government of PNG’s efforts in strengthening the management of the country’s biodiversity.
Cardno International Development
Cardno International Development (Cardno) has been delivering practical, innovative and sustainable solutions in international development for 50 years. They analyse and reflect on this experience to provide agile and adaptive management and technical solutions, continuing to adapt to the needs of clients with measurable impact and sustainable results. This rests on their commitment to investing in communities where Cardno works, localising their operations wherever possible. Cardno’s worldwide team is a diverse mix of the communities in which we live and work.
REAL Impact
REAL Impact is a “profit-for-purpose” enterprise developing a viable creative industry across the Pacific by innovating global value chain processes to include high-impact, small-batch production and ITC integration for capacity-building and leveraging this through an e-commerce B2B marketplace connecting global retailers and brands through procurement contracts with the informal economy across the Pacific. To date, REAL Impact has scoped and piloted in four countries: Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG, and Fiji.
