THE National Monitoring and Coordination Authority (NMCA) and the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the monitoring, management and accountability of public funds allocated to the country’s agriculture sector.
NMCA Chief Executive Officer David Wereh and DAL Secretary Dr Sergie Kopen Bang signed the agreement yesterday at Melanesian Haus in Port Moresby to improve policy alignment and coordination in the implementation of agricultural programmes.
The partnership aims to address the long-standing problem of government agencies, provincial administrations and
agricultural organisations working in isolation, resulting in gaps between public sector planning and the actual implementation of projects on the ground
Speaking at the signing, Mr Wereh said NMCA was established to work with government departments and agencies to ensure development programmes were properly coordinated and monitored.
“NMCA has got a big part to play in trying to bring that coordinated approach to doing development in the country,” he said.
He said independent reviews of government-funded programmes had identified governance and management issues that needed to be addressed to improve the use of public funds.
Mr Wereh said the partnership would help ensure funds were directed to the right programmes, payments reached the intended recipients and projects delivered results.
Dr Bang said the agriculture sector could not achieve its development targets by working alone and needed support from other government departments, the private sector and development partners.
“These development outcomes, as I explained in the Medium Term Development Plan IV, we cannot achieve on our own. We need all of the key government departments, the private sector and everyone to be working together,” he said.
He said stronger cooperation was important in increasing agricultural production, creating employment opportunities, improving family incomes and addressing malnutrition, particularly in rural communities.
Under the agreement, both institutions will work through an approved workplan and conduct regular monitoring to track progress and improve the delivery of agreed programmes.
The signing marks NMCA’s first MOU with a government department.