Food and income

Without access to the outside world, families and communities go without essential goods, services and ways of earning a living. We create access to markets and support the food supply.
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Facts and figures on Papua New Guinea (PNG)

This is why we fly there:

39.7%

poverty

In 2009, around four in ten people in Papua New Guinea lived in poverty, on roughly CHF 1.90 a day.

3.1%

agricultural land

In 2022, around three per cent of the land area in Papua New Guinea was used for agriculture.

27%

food security

Almost a third of Papua New Guinea's total population went hungry in 2022.

49.5%

stunted growth

In 2010, about half of all children under 5 showed signs of stunted growth.

What we do

We deliver the essentials of life

In cut-off communities, poverty is usually especially severe. Isolation blocks access to resources and with it the way out of poverty. We open up access to markets, deliver seed and tools, and pass on the knowledge communities need to build their own livelihoods for the long term.

Poverty

Our flights connect cut-off places with the world. We bring education, relief supplies and medicine, and enable communities to build an income of their own over time.

Stunted growth

We provide undernourished children with nutrients, vitamins and medical care so that they can grow up healthy. We also deliver therapeutic food and good-quality seed.

Food security

To counter malnutrition in poor areas, we transport micronutrients. We also deliver food parcels and support agriculture.

Agriculture

We transport seed, fertiliser and tools, and open up market access for local producers. Agricultural advice helps raise yields and improve food security.

Technologies

Together with partner organisations we secure access to clean cooking fuels and solar lamps. This reduces smoke damage and burns, and provides safe light without fire.

Report

South Sudan: Iisaaki Saari, the pilot in a crisis zone

Finnish pilot Iisaaki Saari flies for MAF in South Sudan, delivering food and vital supplies to cut-off communities. The Galileo film crew accompanied him on his journey.

Watch the Galileo video
News

Working for better livelihoods

All news
Feature
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2025

Where cocoa, vanilla, coffee and peanuts save lives

In remote communities poverty is usually especially high – isolation blocks access to resources. In the Karimui district of Papua New Guinea, MAF’s flights open up access to markets. Now local people are shaping their own future.

Read the article
Feature
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2025

Communities in South Sudan prepare for floods

Rural communities in the Nile basin in South Sudan suffer floods that destroy homes and livelihoods. MAF flew the partner network Nile Basin Discourse into an affected community to prepare people for the rainy season.

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Feature
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2025

Wanakipa: where the aeroplane fills the shelves

Wanakipa in Papua New Guinea lies surrounded by forests, mountains and raging rivers – cut off from the outside world. Its only link is a small grass airstrip on a hill: the lifeline that lastingly improves living conditions

Read the article

Every community should have a fair chance to provide for itself.

Our vision
Get involved

What you can do

If you would like to work with us for a better quality of life for cut-off communities, there are several ways to do it:

Donate

Give the amount you can and want to, and enable us to fly to cut-off places and communities to save lives.

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Sponsorship

Sponsorship makes the biggest difference. Together we strengthen the resilience of remote communities – today and for the future.

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Wills

In your will you can leave a legacy or an inheritance to organisations such as MAF. Give hope beyond your lifetime.

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Partnership

We work with companies, churches, foundations and authorities in order to achieve more. Let us make help from the air possible together.

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Fundraising

Organise your own fundraiser: a cake sale, a sponsored run or something else entirely – every franc helps people in need.

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Join us

Flying, repairing, leading or supporting: there are many ways to work with MAF. Full-time or voluntary, in Switzerland or anywhere in the world.

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Reaching places and shaping lives, together.

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Where we work

Our other focus areas

Where roads end, hope often ends too. Remoteness then means isolation rather than freedom. To counter that isolation, we work on:

Health and hygiene

Our medevac flights make medical care possible where medicines and staff are lacking. We provide clean drinking water and sanitation to fight diseases such as cholera.

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Education and skills development

Cut off from the world, whole generations lack access to education. Because teachers and teaching materials cannot get through on impassable roads, we fly them in. And open up new opportunities on the ground.

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Faith and hope

Where people live cut off, hope is often missing. We create connections for local churches and communities – and together we strengthen people in their faith. So that no one feels alone any more.

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Disaster relief

When disaster strikes, we act fast. We set up airlifts for relief supplies and medical teams and coordinate the distribution of aid with our partner organisations on the ground.

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