Inside this brightly colored pod is viscous white gold. Tiny PNG villages cash in

In recent years, a particular change has occurred in northwest Papua New Guinea.

Isolated traditional villages , separated by dense jungle and the mighty Sepik River has long been cut off from the rest of the world, unable to access electricity or medical offices.

But now these Communities are modernizing at a rapid pace.

Newly installed solar panels allow access to electricity away from the grid, while construction of vital health facilities begins.< /p>

And all thanks to the boom in cocoa prices.

Cocoa is an essential component of chocolate, but it is currently rare to globally.

While this is bad news for customers in the run-up to Easter, it is good news for PNG producers.

Wooding knee-deep in water, Sperian Kapia admires the fruits of his labor: a patch of cocoa trees adorned with brightly colored cocoa pods.

A global cocoa shortage in West Africa provided the perfect opportunity for PNG producers to fill the void. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)

Cocoa is how hundreds of thousands of Papua New Guineans try to make a living. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)