<![CDATA[This study aims to describe the potential, constraints, and community empowerment strategies associated with agriculture- and garden-produce-based local economic development in Highland Papua, focusing on Jayawijaya, Lanny Jaya, and Yahukimo Regencies. It applies a descriptive qualitative approach and a multisite design. Primary data are intended to be collected through in-depth interviews, observation, focus-group discussions, and document review, followed by interactive analysis involving data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. Secondary statistics indicate that agriculture remains central to local livelihoods, while regional economic capacity continues to be constrained by poverty and unequal human development. In 2025, the poverty rates were 29.08 percent in Jayawijaya, 31.59 percent in Lanny Jaya, and 30.61 percent in Yahukimo, while their Human Development Index values were 66.02, 52.47, and 52.48, respectively. These conditions suggest that local production potential does not automatically translate into equitable welfare. Result of findings indicate that sweet potato, highland vegetables, coffee, fruits, and other local crops have economic prospects but face transport barriers, high logistics costs, limited post-harvest facilities, unequal price information, weak producer institutions, and insufficient inclusion of women and youth. The proposed strategy combines district-based value-chain strengthening, producer-group capacity building, appropriate post-harvest technology, context-sensitive finance, fair market partnerships, and affirmative measures for Indigenous Papuans. The study concludes that local economic development should be place-based, participatory, sustainable, and capable of linking productivity improvements with stronger community bargaining power.]]>
