THE BRIEF

Present the case for green climate finance and regulatory frameworks for impact investing in Pacific agriculture — to finance ministers, development bank officials, and private sector investors across Asia-Pacific.

WHAT I DELIVERED

Two keynote presentations and a plenary panel. First paper: aligning green climate finance instruments with impact investing principles in Pacific agriculture. Second paper: regulatory frameworks that create the conditions for patient capital in emerging agricultural markets.

THE PROBLEM

Smallholder farmers in PNG had no credit history, no collateral, and no relationship with formal financial institutions. Banks would not lend to them. Without access to credit, they could not invest, could not smooth income shocks, and remained locked out of economic growth.

WHAT WE BUILT

The first integrated agricultural credit-scoring system in Oceania. Built from crop yield data, market price history, and mobile money transaction records — sources that exist in the informal economy even when formal financial identity does not.

355

Loans disbursed

330

Farmers with first-ever formal credit

35%

Women borrowers

1st

Integrated ag credit-scoring system in Oceania

THE PROBLEM

PNG vanilla had a quality and traceability problem that could not be solved farm by farm. Without a shared national standard, buyers could not trust the product, farmers could not command a premium, and the sector could not develop.

WHAT I DELIVERED

Authored the Papua New Guinea Vanilla Voluntary Standard and companion export guide. Coordinated input and formal sign-off across 33 government ministries. The Standard was subsequently adopted into national law — the legally binding framework governing vanilla export quality across Papua New Guinea.

33

Government ministries coordinated to achieve national sign-off

Adopted into national law

Now the legally binding regulatory framework for all vanilla exports from Papua New Guinea

French Ambassador visiting Kamapim Ltd’s vanilla processing facility, Papua New Guinea

THE PROBLEM

In remote PNG communities, conservation and livelihoods are not competing priorities — they are the same problem. Communities cannot protect what they cannot afford to protect. Any framework that treated them as separate workstreams was going to fail.

WHAT I DELIVERED

Designed and led implementation of the Five Pillars Framework — addressing livelihoods, conservation, governance, gender equity, and nutrition as a single integrated system. Training methodology designed for populations where 47% had never attended school, delivered in local languages.

1,254

Farmers trained in remote communities

9,600

Hectares of rainforest under community conservation

47%

Of participants had never attended school

THE PROBLEM

21,000 farmers growing vanilla in remote PNG highlands. The production capability existed. The market infrastructure did not. No reliable buyers, no price transparency, no traceability, no connection between growers and international buyers who would pay a premium for quality product.

WHAT I DELIVERED

End-to-end value chain development connecting 21,000 farmers to reliable buyers, grading systems, and traceability infrastructure. Introduced on-farm curing training aligned with the national Voluntary Standard. Documented in MDF ‘Sourcing from the Last Mile’ report.

Nyctimene wrightae — named after Dr. Deb Wright. Discovered by Dr. Nancy R. Irwin.

The resemblance some noticed — though the bat came first.

14

Peer-reviewed publications

Zoonotic disease modelling

Predictive models informing Pacific health policy

Named for Dr. Deb Wright

Recognised globally in conservation science