This study explores whether the development assistance delivered by Australian&nbsp;Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) can be better utilized to achieve&nbsp;Bougainville&rsquo;s future economic development. In investigating the factors, issues and&nbsp;challenges that currently constrain aid and development in Bougainville, I focus&nbsp;upon aid policy and procurement processes, Bougainvilleans&rsquo; socio cultural&nbsp;features, the post-conflict situation, and aspects related specifically to SIDS (Small&nbsp;Island Development States). Analysis of these factors provided understanding of&nbsp;aid-driven development issues and challenges within a post-conflict, culturallybased&nbsp;Melanesian SIDS territory.In an attempt to address such problems, a case study of the cocoa industry has&nbsp;been conducted as a model to illustrate how and what aid resources can be used to&nbsp;assist Bougainville&rsquo;s future development. A variant of neo-liberal aid-driven&nbsp;development theory, plus the untied aid model and formal aid management&nbsp;principles are adapted to develop a road-map for improving the cocoa industry with&nbsp;DFAT aid, in pursuit of Bougainville&rsquo;s future economic development