Department of Agriculture

Vanuatu agriculture department finalises 2022 Business Plan

Discussions on developing provincial plans are also taking place in the planning workshop this week.

The Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Antoine Ravo said the planning workshop will determine the outputs of service delivery to farmers in 2022.

"Our inputs this week will indicate our achievements for 2021, what is yet to achieve and what are the challenges that we still need to address before the end of December 2021."

Vanuatu’s Malampa farmers cooperate to establish seed bank

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officer, Michael Lokre confirmed this while working as an assistant agriculture officer for North West A on the island of Malekula.

 “I am working with some key vegetable farmers to assist them with the collection of their own seeds.”

“Most of the farmers have collected their own seeds, awaiting the support of Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP) Centre on Malekula to provide packaging materials so that farmers can begin with the packaging process of their seeds.”

Vanuatu LDS church offers backyard garden training

The participants included people with special needs and non-church members.

The training is provided under church’s Stake Self Reliance Backyard Garden (SSRBG) project.

“The purpose of requesting such training is because most of the church members are not self- reliant so I believe such training will motivate them to engage in home gardening and also to improve their skills through the information obtained from this training, said Stake Specialist for SSRBG, Daniel Ringiau.”

“Most of them consume mainly imported food.

Vanuatu Agriculture Department partners with NTM Teouma Bible College

The ceremony on Tuesday also saw DARD handing a rotavator to the college.

Director Antoine Ravo said,”DARD has a draft plan in place that will involve schools and churches and organizations that are well organised, well-structured and have a good governance system in place and these are some of our selection criteria under this plan for our beneficiaries"

"The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) is rolling out activities of rotavators under the 70/30 Agriculture Investment initiative programme which also part of this plan".

DARD signs partnership agreement with Vanuatu Skills and Partnership

The department handed over a cheque of VT 3 Million to VSP at a signing ceremony.

VSP will deliver a major new training programme that is aimed at improving advisory services for farmers throughout the country.

"The money means that for the first time an integrated programme to meet the training needs of extension officers would be delivered" said Antoine Ravo, Director of Agriculture.

"Our Agriculture Extension Officers have identified their training needs and analysis of these needs has led to a programme to address our highest training priorities."