Wamena, Jubi – A prolonged drought that has affected Kuyawage District in Lanny Jaya Regency, Papua Highlands Province, since June 2026 is continuing, leaving residents facing a growing food shortage after crops failed across the region.

Nuwinus Gwijangge, an internally displaced resident originally from Nduga Regency who has been living in Kuyawage since 2018, said the drought had devastated local farmland, resulting in widespread crop failure and worsening food insecurity.

He said the food shortage was affecting not only internally displaced people from Nduga but also local communities in Kuyawage.

According to Gwijangge, displaced residents from Nduga are hoping their home regency administration will provide emergency food assistance during the prolonged dry season.

"The Nduga Regency Government has never paid attention to us. In fact, we feel ashamed because it is the Lanny Jaya Regency Government – not our own – that has consistently helped us, in addition to our own efforts to survive in displacement," Gwijangge told Jubi by phone on Thursday (6 August 2026).

He also called on the Papua Highlands Provincial Government to distribute food aid to affected communities in Kuyawage.

"Since the drought began, local residents from Lanny Jaya have received attention and food assistance from their regional government. But we, the displaced people from Nduga, feel as though we have no government at all," he said.

Gwijangge said that since he and other residents from Nduga were displaced to Lanny Jaya in 2018, they had received no assistance from the Nduga Regency Government despite repeatedly requesting support.

"We have now endured more than a month of drought in Kuyawage. Our crops have withered and failed, making it increasingly difficult to meet our daily needs. Our livelihoods are under threat," he said.

When the drought first affected parts of Kuyawage in June 2026, displaced residents informed Daniel Lokbere, head of the Nduga Regency Agriculture and Food Security Agency, about the urgent need for food assistance.

At the time, the agency was preparing to distribute rice to displaced Nduga residents in Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency. Displaced residents in Kuyawage requested that their share of the rice assistance also be delivered to them, but they said they received no response from the agency.

They are now again appealing to both the Nduga Regency Government and the Papua Highlands Provincial Government to provide emergency food supplies.

Gwijangge said the drought first affected Bonbon, Yugume, and surrounding areas in June before spreading across the whole of Kuyawage. He added that similar drought conditions occur twice each year.

"If the regency and provincial governments fail to respond, this situation will threaten people's lives," he said.

Administratively, Kuyawage is divided between Lanny Jaya Regency, Nduga Regency, and Puncak Regency in Central Papua Province.

Source: https://en.jubi.id/drought-in-kuyawage-persists-leaving-residents-facing-food-shortages