World Bank Pacific

10/03/2026

🐐 Goat farming isn’t easy — and Zabeen Khan knows it.

She’s lost goats to stray dogs, dealt with parasite infested goats and farmed through Tavua’s dry climate. 🌞🔥

🙏But she didn’t give up. Zabeen persevered and grew her herd from just 15–20 goats to around 150 today. That’s strength. That’s resilience. 💪🏽

When women have access to information, finance, land and markets, the impact goes far beyond the farm 🌾✨
It means stronger food security, steady household income, empowered families and thriving women farmers like Zabeen.

💡 This is why the World Bank Group, through the EnABLE Program and PROSPER Project, is working with the Ministry for Agriculture and Waterways to help women farmers grow their networks, access finance and data, and turn hard work into climate‑smart livelihoods and local jobs 🌍🤝

Because when women rise, agriculture — and our communities — rise with them 💚🌺

10/03/2026

🪴Even as floods and changing weather patterns affect her land, Katarina Senabu, National Woman Spice Farmer of the Year 2025, is cultivating growth. 🥇

🌿At her thriving farm in Koronivia, Katarina has invested in drainage systems and climate smart protected agriculture, keeping crops growing and markets supplied year round - supported by knowledge, planning, and persistence.

🥬Her story is one of many celebrated at the National Women in Primary Industry Symposium in Suva this week (9 - 11 March).🎉

🌏The World Bank Group’s EnABLE Program is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Fiji alongside key partners, in its efforts to strengthen women’s economic participation, by helping women farmers expand their networks and access finance and data, translating hard work into jobs, climate‑smart livelihoods, and stronger local communities. 👩🏽‍🌾

10/03/2026

🌏🏙️ How can Pacific cities grow while staying resilient, inclusive, and climate‑ready?

Join us for a Community of Practice webinar on "Resilient Urbanization in the Pacific", featuring the launch of the World Bank’s new 📘 Livable Pacific Cities and Towns 📘 report.

Hear insights from across the region on building stronger, greener cities and towns that work for people and planet 🌱🌊

🗓️ Wednesday 11 March 2026
⏰ 1:00–2:00pm (Fiji time)
💻 Register here 👉

🌍✨

Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility - PRIF
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Reocvery (GFDRR)
Pacific-Community-SPC
Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure Samoa

09/03/2026

“If you look after it properly, it grows well.”

Meet Lice Bolanayavu. Lice’s journey started from early crop trials in the 1980s to a successful 80-acre pineapple farm in Bua! Her inspiring story shows what hard work, perseverance, family support, and belief can grow.

The World Bank Group’s EnABLE Program is supporting the Ministry of Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Fiji in its efforts to strengthen women’s economic participation through jobs, climate‑smart livelihoods, and stronger local communities.

Follow for more on this week's National Women in Primary Industry Symposium, 9-11 March in Suva.

Fiji Government
Ministry of Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Fiji
Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection - Fiji
Ministry of Forestry, Fiji
Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources
Ministry of Finance, Fiji

09/03/2026

🇫🇯Ni sa Bula Vinaka!🌱

💡 Did You Know?! ➡️Women make up around 14% of farmers in Fiji.

👩🏽‍🌾This week, more than 200 women from across Fiji’s primary industries—farming, fisheries, forestry and more— come together to learn from each other, build connections, and strengthen the work they already do for their families and communities.🤝

🙌Every day, women are growing food, looking after their families, land and resources, and passing down strong farming knowledge from one generation to the next. What’s often missing isn’t effort or talent—it’s fair access to information, training, networks, and finance to help their work grow into bigger opportunities and more jobs.📈

🚜The Government-led National Women in Primary Industry Symposium being held in Suva this week, is part of a wider national effort to support women to take part—and lead—across primary industries.🪏

🌾When women in agriculture grow, communities benefit. That’s why the World Bank Group’s Enhancing Access to Benefits while Lowering Emissions (EnABLE) Program is proud to support the Government-led symposium through the Ministry for Agriculture and Waterways in this work, alongside key partners, helping women farmers to connect with new markets, strengthen their networks, and access the support and finance they need.⚙️

Fiji Government
Ministry of Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Fiji
Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection - Fiji
Ministry of Forestry, Fiji
Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources
Ministry of Finance, Fiji

PC: Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways

09/03/2026

🌏 As part of International Women’s Day, we’re sharing stories of women building careers in technical fields across Papua New Guinea.

⚡ Meet Jennifer Karau, an electrician at Joint Venture Port Services, part of Steamships.

Jennifer works in a technical role where women are still few and far between. Through Meri Save Trades, employers are making practical changes so more women can enter these jobs, stay, and grow.

Safer workplaces and more inclusive policies are turning opportunity into steady, meaningful work.

At the World Bank Group, creating jobs is central to building stronger economies. When women have equal opportunities to work and build skills, families and communities benefit.

Delivered by IFC East Asia Pacific and PNG Business Coalition For Women, with support from Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

See more from our work across EAP here: http://wrld.bg/bQpN50YqOvW

08/03/2026

Women’s economic power drives , productivity, and opportunity.

Across , World Bank Group support is helping women farmers, vendors, and entrepreneurs grow their businesses and improve their livelihoods.

Read more: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2026/03/06/how-the-world-bank-group-is-creating-jobs-and-expanding-economic-opportunity-for-women-across-east-asia-and-pacific

08/03/2026

Strong partnerships for a stronger Pacific 🌏

Our World Bank Group Vice Presidents Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, Sarvesh Suri and Gallina Vincelette met with Australia’s Minister for International Development Anne Aly this week at Parliament House in Canberra to discuss how we can continue working together to support Pacific countries: from helping them stay connected to the global financial system to expanding opportunities for women, young people and communities across the region.

Vice President Gallina Vincelette also met with Australia’s Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy MP to discuss how our partnership with Australia is contributing to greater resilience and more and better jobs across the Pacific.

Thank you to Australia for the partnership and continued commitment to the region.

Australian Government
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

08/03/2026

04/03/2026

☕ From the Highlands to global markets — jobs are being brewed in Goroka 🇵🇬

During our visit to Papua New Guinea, Vice Presidents Carlos Felipe Jaramillo and Sarvesh Suri toured Las Malo Coffee Factory, a locally owned business transforming livelihoods across the Highlands.

Founded in 2018 - Las Malo now supports more than 13,500 rural smallholder farmers, most of whom rely on coffee as their primary source of income. The company buys directly from farmers in remote communities, overcoming tough terrain and limited infrastructure to connect them to export markets.

With support from the World Bank-financed Agriculture Commercialization and Diversification Project (PACD), Las Malo upgraded its machinery, secured its own export license, and now processes up to eight containers of premium coffee each month.

That means:
🌱 Higher incomes for rural families
💼 More stable jobs in the Highlands
📦 Greater value captured inside PNG
💰 Over K13 million in GST contributed to the national economy

Smallholder farmers produce the vast majority of Papua New Guinea’s coffee. When local businesses grow, communities grow with them.

This is what human-centered development looks like — strengthening local enterprise, expanding opportunity, and creating more and better jobs for Papua New Guineans.

03/03/2026

🌱 A landmark day for agriculture and jobs in Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬

In the agricultural heartland of Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province — surrounded by coffee-growing communities and fertile highland farms — World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Felipe Jaramillo and IFC Vice President for Asia Pacific Sarvesh Suri joined Prime Minister James Marape for the official launch of AgriConnect in support of PNG’s National Agriculture Sector Plan 2024–2033.

Held at the University of Goroka and attended by nearly 500 farmers, students, ministers, provincial leaders, and private sector representatives, the event marked a major step toward implementing PNG’s ambition to create one million jobs and build a more diversified economy.

Eastern Highlands is one of the country’s most important agricultural centers — producing high-quality Arabica coffee alongside vegetables, livestock, spices, and staple crops. Agriculture already underpins rural livelihoods across PNG. The opportunity now is to transform it into modern agribusiness that creates more and better jobs.

Building on the success of earlier partnerships that have increased farmer incomes and strengthened export performance, AgriConnect will scale productive alliances, expand access to finance, strengthen farmer organizations, and mobilize private investment across the agricultural value chain — from farm to processing to export.

During the visit, the delegation met with smallholder farmers and agribusiness representatives and toured a local coffee exporter to see firsthand how stronger farmer–market linkages can translate productivity into income and employment.

Through IDA and IFC, the World Bank Group is working as one institution to help convert Papua New Guinea’s agricultural potential into jobs — especially for young people and rural communities.

28/02/2026

🌊 Partnership in action in Savusavu 🇫🇯

As part of their joint Pacific mission, three World Bank Group Vice Presidents met tourism leaders, entrepreneurs, and local officials this week to discuss how Vanua Levu can unlock more jobs through sustainable tourism.

Through the 10-year, US$200M Fiji Tourism Development Program — Na Vualiku — the World Bank Group is working alongside the Government of Fiji to strengthen infrastructure, support MSMEs, and crowd in private investment.

Tourism works best when local enterprise thrives. Vinaka to the business leaders and market vendors who shared their ideas for Vanua Levu’s future.