Effective Use of Traditional Knowledge - Papua New Guinea

Effective Use of Traditional Knowledge encourages traditional house construction in urban areas and using traditional methods of food preservation so that families can rely less on electricity.

Key facts:

About 86 families in urban Mount Hagen now employ the use of traditional huts.

The problem

Most families in urban areas depend largely on electricity for their daily living needs. As such the use of electricity consumes most of their income.

The solution

Cooking food, boiling water and food preservation including the use of house heaters/air conditioning can be done in traditional houses. Through the use of traditional salt and smoking methods most households can eliminate the use of their refrigerator. The money saved can be used to pay for other services such as school fees, medical bills or food. Program participants have said that the use of traditional huts has saved them money during power outages. Their families can still cook their food and preserve the protein for later consumption.

Helping the planet

Less electricity means fewer greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere via fossil fuel extraction and combustion.

Helping people

The idea of having a traditional hut to save electricity and money was first used by three households. These men were retired public servants who owned houses in urban areas but did not have formal employment. After a while they realized that they saved money and were able to survive the hardships faced in the urban lives. When the organization learned that less use of electricity can address climate change, it took the idea of building traditional huts to a much bigger scale involving most families in the urban areas of Mount Hagen.

Scaling Up

This activity started with four families and has been scaled up to over 80 families. This activity relies on users of the traditional huts to spread the word to other families about benefits of having a traditional hut. By the end of 2017, this activity hopes all houses and settlements in urban Mount Hagen will have built a traditional hut.