Vanuatu discusses development of resilient agriculture sector

Senior management officers, provincial agriculture and technical officers discussed priority areas for the agriculture sector for 2021 during a department planning meeting in Port Vila this week

The Director for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Ddevelopment, Antoine Ravo, said the 2021 DARD Business Plan Statement is, ‘Elevating the Agriculture Sector to New Heights to the New Normal through Partnership.’

“Next year, 2021, is a ‘New Normal’ with the current COVID-19 situation that we need to adopt to our working system and life,” Ravo said.

Although Vanuatu has no cases, the coronavirus has hit the agriculture sector.

Travel restrictions have impacted the export of crops from Vanuatu.

The island nation’s agricultural produce was earlier hampered by disasters such as volcanic ash and flash flooding.

“DARD’s plan will always go in line with the vision of the Vanuatu Agriculture Sector Policy 2015- 2030 where agricultural food and cash crops of Vanuatu are sustainably and profitably managed, contributing to sustainable development of the wellbeing of all people in Vanuatu by 2030,” Ravo said.

“Our business plan will be guided by the goals and objectives under the national priorities of the government and DARD’s policy, providing guidance to relevant organization and institution that wish to work with the department.

“This plan must establish a strong foundation for a future partnership development for a resilient agriculture sector.

“DARD’s definition of ‘Strategic, Innovative and High Performing’ is utilizing resources working with partners to achieve the objective of the department, making the best use of what we have through the adoption of new technology, training, research and development and creation of skills and diverse workforce that provides efficient and effective support to field operations.”

“Another important area is primary agro-processing at the farm gate working with relevant government departments and other service providers to support farmers with simple machinery to produce raw products for value adding and diversification to other products such as manioc flour, coconut oil, coffee powder, cacao chocolate and fruit juice.

“We are looking at making reforms in the way we report to the national government.

“This year has been a challenging year of work for us with the devastation caused by the Tropical Cyclone (TC) Harold in the Northern provinces and the COVID-19 crisis.

“I acknowledge all the achievements and activities implemented despite the challenges encountered this year when implementing the DARD 2020 Business Plan.

“There are many works yet to be done on our islands as echoed in our national anthem and this week we will develop our business plan that will be implemented on the islands in 2021,” Ravo said.

He added that the two-day planning workshop is important as officers reflect on the activities implemented throughout the year and identifying areas of improvement for upcoming activities.

Photo supplied Caption: DARD staff at the planning workshop

 

     

Author: 
Tensly Sumbe