Agriculture

This applies also to tourists that visit the Pacific, according to the Hilton (2014) survey of travellers which says that 36 percent of tourists interviewed chose their holiday destination based on food and drinks on offer.

Vanuatu is the only country in the Pacific with an agri-tourism policy that recognises the link between agriculture and tourism. Its focus is on growing more local produce and encouraging hotels and restaurants to use local foods on their menu in the hope that it will eventually decrease their fresh food import bill.

Several thousand ni-Vanuatus go to New Zealand each year as part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer programme.

Rao Abel Yalu told the Daily Post that he had shown he could earn a significant income each week by selling at the Port Vila market.

He says his sons were convinced and have agreed to stay and help him plant more yams on the farm.

Mr Yalu says he planted his yams early last year to start harvesting them in January instead of May to avoid competition from other farmers. 

He is sending the latest information on crop production back to Port Vila to guide decisions about crop availability.

Vanuatu’s Extension Officers are being equipped and trained to respond to disasters and plan for improved resilience with practical training and “know-how.”

The community-based Food Security project is working with women from churches across Vanuatu to train them on how to conduct their own food security assessments in their village. The training also looks at how to prepare food supplies so that village families are more resilient in times of disaster.

The training has been organised by Vanuatu Christian Council. ‘Food security’ means that everyone has enough healthy and safe food all the time to have a strong and healthy life.

The participants are from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu and the Pacific Community (SPC).

The exchange is supported by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and SPC through the European Union supported Agriculture Policy Project (PAPP).

Meanwhile, the amount of arable land is decreasing, and farmers face mounting challenges.

Climate Corporation aims to take the guesswork out of issues like weather and crop disease. The 10-year-old company offers a slate of "digital agriculture" tools that provide a real-time, Facebook-esque feed about what's happening on a farm at every moment.

The vegetable that VAD is currently focusing on and promoting for this exercise are eggplants, okras, zucchinis, silver beets and spices. Hopefully this exercise will be the stepping-stone to helping local farmers fine-tune their farming skills and technology for the larger international market.

The team leader of SPC's Pacific agriculture policy project, Vili Caniogo, says more than 80 percent of the region's population live in rural areas but this is not reflected in government policies.

A small but energetic team of agriculture and food production stakeholders and entrepreneurs from the Pacific are currently in the Caribbean region this week exchanging ideas with their Caribbean colleagues with the hope of bringing back home valuable ideas.                                                   

Some 250 leaders, decision-makers and agrifood actors will be gathering for the first Caribbean and Pacific Agrifood Forum. A key event for both regions, the forum will be held from November 2 to 6, an action-packed week devoted to exploring how an agribusiness approach can drive rural development in small island states.