Meet some of Papua New Guinea’s most innovative small businesses
A record number of small businesses entered the 2026 Innovation PNG Awards this year, with the shortlists announced last week in Port Moresby. From the use of artificial intelligence to monitor media reporting to using fly larvae to create poultry feed, we consider the six ingenious projects shortlisted in this year’s small business category.
Central Dakis Mamina Trading in Central Province deploys an innovative model to support the entry of women into coffee growing. Credit: Central Dakis Mamina Trading.
The brief from the 2026 Innovation PNG Awards’ judging panel, led by Peter Williams of Deloitte’s Centre for the Edge in Australia, was to come up with Papua New Guinean-devised solutions to PNG problems, with extra marks being given to those solutions with commercial potential.
While innovation is often associated with technology, it is notable how many of the small businesses shortlisted in this year’s awards deployed relatively low-tech solutions.
Innovating in agriculture
A number of the shortlisted SMEs are involved in some way with value-adding in PNG’s agriculture sector.
The brainchild of entrepreneur Nellie Kavanamur Varmari, Central Dakis Mamina Trading in Central Province deploys an innovative model to support the entry of women into coffee growing.
The business provides both seedlings and training to female growers as part of an empowerment program which not only helps women develop an income but also helps ensure a reliable supply of coffee beans for the coffee processor.
“In the near future, four-to-five years’ time, I will be the one buying the coffee from them and doing the downstream processing, meaning they don’t need to look for buyers,” says Varmari.
Meanwhile, over in Lae, small business Yaung Organics is incorporating local produce such as coconut oil, honey, beeswax, turmeric, neem and papaya oil in its organic skin and hair care products.
“Yaung Organics has grown from a small home-based operation into a developing SME over three years, with improved packaging and labelling in 2026, increasing product appeal and customer demand,” says the firm’s Marthina Yawec.
“By sourcing ingredients locally, we also support small-scale farmers, contributing to rural income generation.”
Waste not
Homes Purse Clean Energy is making and selling an alternative fuel for cooking – bio charcoal – made from organic household waste. Credit: Homes Purse Clean Energy.
About half an hour’s drive from Port Moresby down the Magi Highway is Valana Poultry BSF Integrated Agro Farm.
Faced with the high cost of poultry feed, the farm’s owners have developed a more affordable feed by harnessing the powers of the humble black soldier fly.
The farm uses the fly’s larvae to turn chicken manure, kitchen scraps and garden waste into high protein organic feed for its chickens.
“I now save up to 50 per cent on stock feed because I produce my own feed supplement,” says Valanga Poultry’s Jamie Solien Lalana.
“I believe BSF technology has a strong future for small farmers in PNG. It is a simple and affordable farming tool that can help many families reduce feed costs and grow healthier chickens.”
Meanwhile, in Port Moresby, Elias Darius of Homes Purse Clean Energy is making and selling a popular alternative fuel for cooking – bio charcoal – which is made from organic household waste.
“The NCDC [National Capital District Commission] has a lot of problems with waste management … my innovation is to recycle, reform or reuse waste,” says Darius.
Leveraging technology
Finally, two entrants are leveraging technology to address two PNG challenges – threats to traditional culture (“kastom” in Tok Pisin) and misinformation online.
Steven Kaman of Gotronical Engineering Limited in Mount Hagen has developed a website with a difference: Kastom PNG.
“The platform provides the first practical digital mechanism for Papua New Guineans to document, preserve and earn from their own kastom,” says Kaman. As well as cultural information on all 22 provinces, the website hosts an online craft marketplace so that rural artisans can earn direct income from the artefacts they create.
Meanwhile, back in the National Capital District, Pinpoint Consultancy has developed Decipher, a news intelligence platform powered by artificial intelligence.
“Decipher was designed to address a multi-dimensional information crisis in PNG,” explains Pinpoint’s Charlie Ikosi. “By delivering a weekly synthesis of the news, it is providing a source of truth that helps stabilise the information landscape for users.”
Award winners announcement
The Innovation PNG Award winners for 2026 will be announced at a special awards breakfast on 3 June at the Hilton Hotel, Port Moresby. The awards, which are sponsored by Kina Bank (Major Sponsor), Vodafone PNG and Moni Plus, are an initiative of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Business Advantage International.
You can register to attend the announcement by contacting POMCCI directly, either by email at frontdesk@pomcci.com or by phone on +675 7200 0000.
