NYDA’s NYES Phase 2 kicks off in Nuku as 570 registered youths put cocoa at the top of their wish list, with the district pledging boots on the ground before 2026 is out
NUKU, WEST SEPIK PROVINCE – Hundreds of disengaged young people in Nuku District are about to swap the sidelines for the cocoa block, after the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA) and its provincial and district partners announced a firm commitment to engage the district’s first batch of young cocoa farmers before the end of this year.
The announcement marks the official start of Phase 2 of the National Youth Engagement Strategy (NYES) in Nuku and signals a decisive move from simply counting youths on a register to connecting them with real, practical opportunities for livelihoods and enterprise.
The commitment followed a district-level presentation and discussion on 27 August 2026, where NYDA tabled youth registration data showing that cocoa farming is the number one area of interest among young people signed up in Nuku. To date, 570 youths have registered, and registration is still open.
Nuku District will mark the start of the engagement programme with a planned official launch, putting the first cohort of young cocoa farmers in the spotlight.
To get the launch over the line, NYDA and its district and provincial counterparts will now roll out a series of preparatory steps, including:
- Youth data cleansing, to ensure registered youths are properly profiled and matched to the right opportunities;
- Cocoa field management training, to equip young farmers with practical, hands-on skills;
- Financial literacy training, to build money-management habits that sustain a farming enterprise; and
- Coordination and budget planning, to line up the resources needed for a successful launch.
The engagement was elevated by the participation of West Sepik Provincial Community Development Advisor, Mrs Florence Agen, who shared reflections on the emerging success of the Vanimo Green youth engagement programme. More than 100 youths there have already been engaged in informal business through NYES, giving Nuku a home-grown example of what is possible.
Through strong partnerships between national, provincial and district stakeholders, NYES is working to connect disengaged youths with practical opportunities for livelihoods and enterprise, based on their own interests. In Nuku, that interest is cocoa, and the countdown to the first harvest of opportunity has begun.