Changing land use practices were studied in four communities in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).  There are rapid changes taking place and farmers are developing new ways of managing their land ranging from treating land as a commodity with more individualised land tenure driven by market demand and material wealth to finding a middle ground somewhere between communal land tenure and individual tenure. The data were collected through one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions as part of a livelihood research strategy at the village level with coffee households in four different locations with varying degrees of accessibility to the main service center of Goroka. The results revealed the dynamics of the socioeconomic change in these communities, and the influence of cash and market access. This paper will discuss the different land use strategies in each community and how these developed.