land resources division (lrd) biannual report

LAND RESOURCES DIVISION (LRD)

Biannual Report

July 2017 – June 2019

LAND RESOURCES DIVISION (LRD) PACIFIC COMMUNITY (SPC), BIANNUAL REPORT - JULY 2017 – JUNE 20192

© Pacific Community (SPC) 2019

All rights for commercial/for profit reproduction or translation, in any form, reserved. SPC authorises the partial reproduction or translation of this material for scientific, educational or research purposes, provided that SPC and the source document are properly acknowledged. Permission to reproduce the document and/or translate in whole, in any form, whether for commercial/for profit or non-profit purposes, must be requested in writing. Original SPC artwork may not be altered or separately published without permission.

Prepared for publication by SPC Land Resources Division (LRD), Narere, Suva - Fiji.

www.spc.int | +679 33 0733 | [email protected]

Printed by Quality Print, Suva Fiji

LAND RESOURCES DIVISION (LRD) PACIFIC COMMUNITY (SPC), BIANNUAL REPORT - JULY 2017 – JUNE 2019 3

TABLE OF CONTENTSACRONYMS ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................5

OUR MISSION ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................6

FOREWORD ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................8

Development of the Narere campus at Suva ...................................................................................................................................................10

Progress towards LRD Objectives ............................................................................................................................................................................10

LRD Structure .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................10

Integrated Programs ........................................................................................................................................................................................................12

IP #1: Pacific Seeds for Life (PS4L) ............................................................................................................................................................................12

IP #2: Healthy ecosystems for biodiversity and food security ..............................................................................................................13

IP #3: Excellence in Atoll Agriculture ....................................................................................................................................................................14

IP #4: Biosecurity and safe trade ...............................................................................................................................................................................15

IP #5: Food systems for health and nutrition .................................................................................................................................................16

Pillar 1 – Genetic Resources .......................................................................................................................................................................................17

Completed Projects .........................................................................................................................................................................................................17

Current Projects ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................22

Ongoing Support (since 2009) .................................................................................................................................................................................24

Pillar 2 – Sustainable Forests and Landscape Management .........................................................................................................26


Pillar 3 – Sustainable Agriculture..........................................................................................................................................................................30

Plant Health ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................30

Extension Services ............................................................................................................................................................................................................32

Soil Health and Crop Production .............................................................................................................................................................................33

Animal Health and Production (AHP) ...................................................................................................................................................................34

Pillar 4 – Markets for Livelihoods ..........................................................................................................................................................................36


Pacific Plant Protection Organisation ...................................................................................................................................................................37

POETCom ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................37

Directorate Service ............................................................................................................................... 42 ICKM .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................42

Planning, Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) ...................................................................................................................................42

Research for Development ................................................................................................................................................................................................42

ANNEX 1 – Country Activities and Results ....................................................................................................................................................45

Activities across all PICTs ..............................................................................................................................................................................................45

Country Activities ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................46

ANNEX 2 – LRD Response to HOAFS Meeting 2017...............................................................................................................................51

ANNEX 3 – Financial Summary ................................................................................................................................................................................55

ANNEX 4 – 2017 HOAFS Meeting Report ........................................................................................................................................................56


ACRONYMSACIAR Australian Centre for International Research

APCC Asia Pacific Coconut Community

BIFS Biosecurity Information System

BQA Bilateral Quarantine Agreement

BSF Benefit-Sharing Fund

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

CePaCT Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees

CGIAR Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research

CIDP Coconut Industry Development for the Pacific

CROP Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific

CSA Climate Smart Agriculture

DFAT Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

DRR Disaster Risk Reduction

EQAP Educational Quality & Assessment Programme

ERP Emergency Response Plan

EWS Early Warning System

EU European Union

FAME Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems Division of SPC

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

FRDP Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific

GCF Green Climate Fund

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GEF Global Environmental Facility

GIZ German Society of International Cooperation

HoAFS Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services

IAEA International Atomic Energy Association

ICKM Information, communication knowledge management

ITPGRFA International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

IPPC International Plant Protection Convention

LOA Letter of Agreement

LDN TS Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting

LRD Land Resources Division of the Pacific Community

MFAT New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

MRL Maximum Residual Level

NCDs Non-Communicable Diseases

NPC&T Northern Pacific Countries and Territories

OIE Organization International Epizooties (World Animal Health Organisation)

PAPGREN Pacific Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Network

PGR Plant Genetic Resources

PGS Participatory Guarantee Systems

PHC Plant Health Clinic

PHOVAPS Pacific Heads of Veterinarian and Animal Production Service

PIFON Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network

PITSC Pacific Islands Tree Seed Centre

PLD Pest List Database

PMEL Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

PRISE Pacific Regional Integration Support Program

PROTÉGÉ Pacific Territories Regional Project for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

POETCOM Pacific Organic & Ethical Trade Community

PPPO Pacific Plant Protection Convention

PRPRS Pacific Regional Pesticide Registration System

PWA Pacific Week of Agriculture

RBM Results Based Management

REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation Plus conservation and sustainable forest management

RPPO Regional Plant Protection Organization

RTMPP Regional Technical Meetings of Plant Protection

SAFT School of Agriculture and Food Technology

SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

SFM Sustainable Forest Management

SIDS Small Island Developing States

SINU Solomon Islands National University

SLM Sustainable Land Management

SPC Pacific Community

SPS Sanitary and Phytosanitary

STDF Standards and Trade Development Facility

SMTA Standard Material Transfer Agreement

TBT Technical Barriers to Trade

TC Tropical Cyclone

UNCCD UN Convention to Combat Desertification

UNDP UN Development Programme

UNPS United Nations Pacific Strategy

USC University of the Sunshine Coast

USP University of the South Pacific

VAC Vanuatu Agriculture College

WAHIS World Animal Health Information Syste

http://www.pacificfarmers.com/

http://www.organicpasifika.com/poetcom/


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSLand Resources Division’s work with member countries is underpinned by the investments of many partners and donors. On behalf of the member countries, we wish to acknowledge their effort and their intellectual and financial contributions. Their good will is greatly appreciated in the journey of developing concepts, negotiating program contracts, and working together to achieve the best results possible for the Pacific communities that we serve.

Asia Pacific Network on Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNET)

-

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

-

Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

Crop Trust

European Union (EU)

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Global Environmental Facility (GEF)

Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS)

Green Climate Fund (GCF)

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)

New Zealand Landcare Research Institute

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)


OUR MISSIONTo provide effective expert scientific advice, capacity building and services on

• conservation, development and utilization of plant genetic resources

• forest and landscape management

• resilient agricultural systems

• diversification of livelihood strategies and access to markets

to maintain ecosystem services, improve land productivity and food nutrition security and resilience of Pacific communities.


FOREWORD In October 2017 during the first-ever Pacific Week of Agriculture (PWA) in Vanuatu, one of the main discussion points with the Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HoAFS) and their Honourable Ministers was that Land Resources Division, as the Division of the Pacific Community mandated to provide services in land and forest resources, should be restructured and develop a business plan. This intent was endorsed, and this report, prepared for the 2019 HoAFS meeting at PWA in Samoa, shows the fruit of the significant changes that have been put in place.

The directions we are taking conform to national needs and aspirations of our member countries and conform to the potential for harnessing some of the country specific issues to the region. We hope as such to demonstrate to our funders and the member countries the enormous capabilities within Land Resources Division and indeed the Pacific Community for pan-organizational efficiencies and, to further build strong and long-term relationships through joint planning and sharing initiatives across our member countries.

Our intent is to continue to focus on improving the food and nutritional security of the region, working to support food systems that can contribute to better health outcomes for our people, while improving our land and water and building resilience in the face of Climate Change.

This report documents our progress over the past two years, complementing information that can be found in the Pacific Community’s Annual Results Reports.

I am excited about the integrated programs that will unite multiple individual projects and provide a coordinated basket of Research for Development options ensuring there will be strong continuity in our programming within the context of project cycles.

I look forward to continuing to work with you for the betterment of our Pacific Community.

Jan Helsen,DirectorSPC - Land Resources Division,Narere, Suva, FIJI


INTRODUCTIONLand Resources Division (LRD) has undergone significant transformation over the course of this reporting period, from July 2017 to June 2019.

Since the dialogue at the Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HOAFS) in 2017 LRD has finalised its Business Plan, and has leveraged its regional position and the core skills of its staff to maintain services and partnerships, responding to member countries and coordinating donor funds to drive new initiatives in the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors of the Pacific. These integrated programs respond to the country programs and reference national development plans and key sector policies, creating new collaborations and achieving a continuity beyond individual project funding.

Countries raised a number of specific issues at the 2017 meeting, which they asked LRD to address. We have done this to the fullest extent possible, and the responses documented in ANNEX 2 – LRD Response to HOAFS Meeting 2017. The full meeting report and ministerial communiqué are included in ANNEX 4 – 2017 HOAFS MEETING REPORT.

In this report we present an overview of LRD’s current projects and the pathway we are taking towards integrated programming, which enables us to achieve flexibility and respond to emerging issues, while managing towards project objectives and milestones.

LRD aims to design programs that align with the needs of member countries and attract support from donors while achieving the efficiencies that come from international programs. This report demonstrates that LRD continues to serve the needs of PICTs and to increase the resources

available to achieve a regional response to issues in the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors. The five integrated programs are described more fully below, but by way of example the Pacific Seeds for Life integrated program, builds on technical work which was commenced under the concluding Pacific Agriculture Policy Program (PAPP), and strengthens the bridge between CePaCT’s conservation agenda and distribution of accessions to national agencies for further testing, replication and distribution within countries. Another example is the integrated program on Sanitary-Phytosanitary and Biosecurity supported by EDF11 funding will continue long-standing work on animal health, welfare and production which directly links to the inter-divisional program with Public Health entitled One Health.

LRD has improved its ability to design, implement and coordinate projects and programs through the appointment of a Research for Development coordinator, with a particular focus on integrated programs for atoll agriculture, healthy ecosystems and food production systems.

LRD has responded to the need for on-going work on atoll soil health and development of gardening systems to increase food security. This includes innovative engagement with the private sector. The program will maintain work on composting and micro-nutrient management, respond to loss in crop biodiversity by introducing climate-resilient food crop varieties from the Pacific into the prevailing food production systems and support the conservation and distribution of genetic diversity of annual and perennial crops and trees for future use.


LRD has also been more effectively targeting economic empowerment of women and inclusion of youth by promoting and seeking support for gender based and youth-specific initiatives with the objective of mainstreaming human-centred approaches across all programs. Further, we have recognised and are working to improve emergency response to mobilize land management skills and food resources in the face of crisis. For example, through better invasive species incursion responses, seed and plantlet supply after cyclones and supplementing technical assistance of member governments.

Progress towards LRD Objectives

Land Resources Division has the goal of seeing Pacific communities with sufficient locally produced and good quality food which is produced from production systems that are resilient to climate change, with well managed natural resources, functional landscapes and ecosystems.

To achieve this, we have structured our activities towards the following outcomes:

1. Land, agriculture, forestry and genetic resources are sustainably managed and conserved

2. Enhanced ability to meet local and international market requirements for agriculture and forestry products

3. PICTs have access to diverse and nutritious agricultural and forestry resources resilient to the impacts of disasters and climate change

4. Women, youth and members of vulnerable groups participate actively in agriculture and forestry

5. Integrated farming systems and services strengthened.

Development of the Narere campus at Suva

Consolidation of SPC’s activities at Narere campus has continued over the reporting period. There have been the following notable developments:

• CePACT’s facilities have expanded with the addition of new greenhouse facilities.

• CePaCT has constructed a separate vault as an independent back-up of key parts of its germplasm collection. This was opened by the Australian Foreign Minister on 25/7/19.

• Plant Health have completed construction of a fully accredited laboratory facility.

• The SPC library has moved to a permanent home and is now more fully integrated into SPC, after being housed in leased premises at Nabua for a number of years.

• Public Health Division are soon to move from Nabua, which will facilitate collaboration on the One Health initiative.

• Further inter-divisional collaboration will be enabled when the aquaculture team from Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems Division move to Narere.


LRD STRUCTURELRD’s structure is essentially unchanged from that proposed at the 2017 HOAFS meeting. While there were significant staff reductions in 2018 with the conclusion of a number of large projects, numbers are now increasing as new funding streams come on-line. The structure comprises four pillars (see Figure 1): (1) Genetic Resources; (2) Sustainable Forests and Landscape Management; (3) Sustainable Agriculture; and (4) Markets for Livelihoods. The pillars individually and collectively develop and implement programmes, projects and activities to deliver outcomes contributing to LRD’s objectives. Supporting these teams is structure is the Division Directorate with Policy, Finance and Administration, Information Communication and Knowledge Management (ICKM), Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) and Research for Development. The matrix structure has enabled the development of integrated programs based on a value chain model, starting with genetic resources and ending with consumption and markets and improved livelihoods. The flexibility and efficiency of the structure allows for projects housed in one pillar to have some components implemented through other pillars, whilst ensuring that expertise via the advisory services are available to these projects. The structural efficiency, moreover, avoids duplication of resources or activities.

SPC STRATEGIC ORGANISATIONAL OBJECTIVES

Strengthen engagement

with members and partners

Address members

priorities through multi-disciplinary

approaches

Strengthen technical

and scientific knowledge and

expertise

Enhance capabilities of

our people, systems and

processes

Improve planning,

prioritisation, evaluation,

learning and innovation

PILLARS

SUPPORT

INTEGRATED PROGRAMS

GENETIC RESOURCES

Finance and Administration

Information, Communication and Knowledge Management

Planning, monitoring, evaluation & learning

Research for Development

SUSTAINABLE FORESTS AND LANDSCAPE

MANAGEMENT

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

MARKETS FOR LIVELIHOODS

Pacific seeds for life

Healthy ecosystems

Excellence in atoll

agriculture

Biosecurity and safe trade

Food systems for health and

nutrition


INTEGRATED PROGRAMS

Pacific seeds for life

This Program commenced in2018 using SPC core funds of €300K with a pilot phase was Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga. We anticipate support for a full project supported by MFAT NZ through Landcare Research with $NZD 4.8M. The project will run from July 2019 – June 2021.

Facing the threat of Climate Change, food security and the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), there is a need for an IP that contributes to sustainable resilient food systems. The focus of this IP is seed systems. Currently the Pacific lacks national seed policies to support seed development, there is a heavy reliance on imported seeds that are often not well suited for the Pacific, a narrow genetic resource base that is not resilient to biotic and abiotic factors, limited seed stocks, and poor linkages between all the actors in the seed supply chain.

This IP combines the resources of CePaCT and the Sustainable Agriculture team to strengthen seeds systems in countries through policy support, increase awareness and capacity on seed systems development, and strengthen regional and national seed networks.

SPC-LRD IP Lead: Logotonu Waqainabete

The Integrated Programs will link resources from across the pillars on projects. The integrated programs have been designed to achieve the LRD objectives and coalesce funding support from various donor partners.

The Integrated Programs are:

1. Pacific seeds for life

2. Healthy ecosystems

3. Excellence in atoll agriculture

4. Biosecurity and safe trade

5. Food systems for health and nutrition.

A number of these programs are in development and work is on-going to formulate result areas and performance indicators prior to budget development.

1


Healthy ecosystems

More than 90% of the population in the Pacific are semi-subsistence smallholder farmers and the land and forests constitute the natural capital providing an inheritance for their future generations. Currently the Pacific region faces increasing deforestation, forest and land degradation, and ineffective resource management. The focus of this IP is on the interaction between people and natural resources to achieve sustainable land use management. Prevention of biodiversity loss and the adaptation and mitigation to climate change threats face the pressure for economic development and food security. Through this IP, communities lead the development of their own Land Use Plans tailored to specific environments and based on natural resource inventories and communal decision making about their land use priorities for water supply and healthy rivers, planted and natural forests, conservation and agriculture.

The key to the programme is to create the regional and national frameworks (given complex customary land ownership and management) that enable training and support for communities to develop and operationalise their own land use management plans, which are underpinned by rigorous resource inventory which will enable changes to be measured.

LRD’s contribution is to work with customary ownership bodies to establish the principles, and support the facilitation and provide technical assistance with resource inventory and analysis of forests, agriculture and land data.

This program complements other major on-going initiatives of ridge-to-reef catchment planning, and REDD+ programs to improve sustainable forest management. A Forest and Landscape Restoration bid has been prepared and it is hoped to receive support from the German International Climate Initiative (IKI).

SPC-LRD IP Lead: Jalesi Mateboto

2


Excellence in atoll agriculture

Atoll farming systems work in fragile environments that are highly vulnerable to Climate Change, population increase, and the loss of biodiversity that threaten food and nutrition security. These challenges are compounded by non-climatic factors including: Limited availability of essential soil nutrients, limited water availability, limited arable lands, narrow genetic base (crops and animals), and increasing incidence of crop and livestock pests and disease. This IP will be the focal point to address the multi-faceted challenges facing the atoll communities through joint planning, implementation and scaling of lessons through effective partnership and linkages. Focus areas are: Priority setting of research to ensure that it is context-specific and value driven for atolls; development of appropriate research designs for atolls; establishing targeted research themes and clusters based on geography and commodities for income and food security; human resource and institutional capacity building; partnerships for collaborative research on priority issues, and knowledge management to support scaling of evidence based research into practice and policy strengthening.

SPC-LRD IP Lead: Gibson Susumu

3


Biosecurity and safe trade

Increasing mobility and growth of the population, together with anthropogenic climate changes, are enabling pests and pathogens to increasingly cause disease. This human activity is creating invasive pathways for pests and pathogens and allowing them entry into new environments where their natural predators do not exist. This places pressure on food security, human health, and the normal functioning of ecosystems. This inter-divisional program, in conjunction with the Division of Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems (FAME), follows the context of ‘prevention is better than cure’ and aims to ensure biosecurity readiness and SPS compliance across the Pacific region, and that biosecurity laws are revised in line with the IPPC, OIE and Codex Alimentarius Standards. LRD is currently the Secretariat for the Pacific Plant Protection Organization (PPPO) and Regional Technical Meetings of Plant Protection (RTMPP); and these are the entry points to building capacity in the PICTs’ biosecurity across the Pacific region. This IP will also look at the biosecurity non-compliance issues facing trade in both exports and imports of biosecurity related pathways, the treatment regimens, and assist the development of consistent and relevant Standard Operating Procedures to help rectify these issues.

SPC-LRD IP Lead: Dr. Visoni Timote

4


Food systems for health and nutrition

Over-nutrition and under-nutrition are two forms of malnutrition in the Pacific region responsible for increasing numbers of deaths, diseases, and disabilities. Access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food is a challenge for fresh food supply chains in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). As the complexity of these issues requires a multi-sectoral approach, the Sustainable Food Systems for Health and Nutrition IP has been prioritised for development as an SPC wide integrated programme and looks at promoting sustainable diets produced with low impact on the environment.

LRD will contribute by strengthening the policy environment for nutrition sensitive agriculture; food production through applied research, technical assistance and capacity building, based on the principles of agro ecology. This will include improved and diversified genetic resources, soil health, pest and disease management, integrated livestock farming systems. It will also address access by strengthening local value chains for urban and peri-urban agriculture and increase engagement of communities and build awareness on the links between diet, production and natural resources.

SPC-LRD IP Lead:

Karen Mapusua

5


PILLAR 1 – GENETIC RESOURCESCompleted Projects

FAO BSF Project (PR-83-FIJI)

Donor Project Title Timeframe Total funding PICTs coveredThe Benefit Sharing Fund (BSF) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food And Agriculture (ITPGRFA)

Strengthening the resilience of Pacific agricultural systems to climate change through enhancing access to and use of (crop) diversity

33 months (March 2014 – December 2016) Extension 2017 to use unspent funds for the ‘Lessons Learnt workshop’

276,000 USD Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa

Project aim: Resilient agriculture systems supported by dynamic and diverse genepools

Key Achievements:

Major achievements of the project include:

• the establishment of a Pacific Plant Breeding Network (PPBN) – an important platform, the first of its kind in the Pacific, for increased collaboration and sharing of specialised breeding techniques to promote the devel-opment of new locally adapted crop diversity;

• the successful development of 49 new crop varieties of cassava, sweet potato, taro and yam;• The establishment of 17 national demonstration and evaluation field plots and genebanks across the five

project countries. • Close to 400 men, women and youth from national government, schools and community (farmers) received

relevant training covering issues relating to PGRFA development, establishment, evaluation, selection, man-agement and multiplication.

TC Winston project

Donor Project Title Timeframe Total funding PICTs coveredGlobal Crop Diversity Trust

Strengthening crop con-servation post cyclone Winston

2 years (March 2017 – April 2019)

72,795.80 USD (101,165 AUD)

Regional

Project aim: Enhance the conservation of valuable plant genetic resources within the Pacific Community fol-lowing TC Winston.

Key Achievements:

• Establishment of the new CePaCT Emergency Backup Facility in Suva, Fiji• Acquiring 6 new dehumidifiers for the CePaCT lab and also the new Emergency Backup Facility• Restoration of breadfruit trees that had fallen over after TC Winston and trimming of all trees to minimise

damage from any future cyclone.• 10 breadfruit accessions from the Pacific Breadfruit Field collection being established in tissue culture for

safety backup• 69 accessions of 5 crops (taro, bele, cassava, sweet potato and cocoyam) collected from Vanuatu (61 acces-

sions) and Fiji (8 accessions) for inclusion in the regional CePaCT collections for conservation.


ACIAR Fruit Tree Project

Donor Project Title Project Lead

Timeframe Total funding PICTs covered

ACIAR Enhanced fruit produc-tion and postharvest handling systems for Fiji, Samoa and Tonga

Univer-sity of Sunshine Coast

4 years (Jan 2016 – Dec 2019)

2.3 million AUDCePaCT compo-nent = 233,100 AUD.

Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Project objective: Increase the economic and disaster resilience of selected tropical fruit value chains. CePaCT in collaboration with USC implemented Objective 2 (see below) of this project.

Project Objective 2: To improve climatic resilience of breadfruit through improved canopy man-agement and investigating the diversity of breadfruit tree form.

Key Achievements:

• Breadfruit diversity surveys carried out to identify potential low tree form varieties. Surveys were carried out in Fiji (41 accessions from both Fiji and CePaCT collections), Vanuatu (81 accessions) and Samoa (19 accessions). No dwarf phenotypes were identified during these surveys.

• Inter-species and intra-species grafting experiments carried out to investigate the effect of graft-ing on tree forms. Inter-species grafting experiments carried out by USC showed positive results with grafted plants showing dwarf phenotypic characteristics. Intra-species grafting experiments using fertile seedy varieties as rootstocks are continuing in CePaCT.

• USC carried out molecular analysis of the breadfruit diversity collected form Fiji, Samoa and Van-uatu to understand the molecular mechanism influencing growth regulation of the breadfruit species. Genes that promoted the development of gibberellic acid (GA), a plant growth hor-mone, were isolated and proteins that inhibit the development of GA were cloned as part of these experiments. Further investigations on the function of these genes with particular refer-ence to their role in stem elongation and the opportunity for breadfruit dwarfing are ongoing.

Support for CEPACT Transformation into an area of excellence

Donor Project Title Time-frame

Total funding PICTs covered

DFAT Australian Government support to SPC on the development of a ‘Business Case and related activities for the development of the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) as a Pacific Community area of excellence’

April 2017 – Decem-ber 2018

250,000 AUD REGIONAL

Project aim(s):

• Identify current state of CePaCT and SPC members expectations• Identify what CePaCT’s scope of work could be and the potential benefits and costs of developing CePaCT

as an area of excellence• Identify possible business models, timeframes, governance arrangements, partnerships arrangements and

indicators of success for CePaCT including approaches to financial sustainability.


Key Achievements:

• External review of CePaCT genebank commissioned by the Global Crop Diversity Trust carried out in the first week of August 2017. 22 key recommendations on areas such as infrastructure, equipment, operations and systems and staffing were highlighted after this review. These recommendations contributed to the devel-opment of the CePaCT Business Plan.

• Pacific Consultation via PAPGREN platform carried out from 28 August – 1st Sept, 2017. Feedback from this consultation were considered in the development of the CePaCT Business Plan.

• Hiring of Genetic Resources Expert (Aug-Nov, 2017 & Mar – Sept, 2018) to provide key institutional support to the CePaCT team and also to support efforts leading up to the development of a business case for CePaCT. The second period contract was focused on development of the CePaCT Investment Plan to mainly provide detailed costing for the CePaCT narrative Business Plan developed by a separate consultant (see below).

• Hiring of Consultant to Develop the CePaCT Business Plan (Oct 2017 – Jan 2018). A second contract (June-Ju-ly, 2018) was given to finalise this ‘narrative’ CePaCT business plan.

Darwin Initiative Coconut Project

Donor Project Title Project Lead Timeframe Total funding

PICTs covered

Darwin Initia-tive of the Unit-ed Kingdom

Upgrading and broadening the new South Pacific Inter-national Coconut Genebank

Bioversity Interna-tional

1st June 2016 - 31st March 2019

317,884 EURO

Fiji, Samoa, PNG.

Partner institutions:

(APCC), CIRAD, SPC, Global Crop Diversity Trust, and the Interna-tional Treaty (ITPGRFA)

Project Aim(s): To identify, characterise unique coconut diversity in-situ and to collect and conserve threatened new coconut germplasm in the PNG, Samoa and Fiji genebanks. Characterisation will take into account local uses, resistance to cyclones and diseases along with gender-disaggregated trait preferences.

This project also aimed to build capacity of young scientists in coconut breeding and GR conservation.

Key Achievements:

• Development of proper guidelines for collecting coconut germplasm characterisation data from prospect-ing missions. This is an important document to guide future work.

• Identification of new coconut diversity in PNG and Fiji; consolidating the list of key coconut accessions in the International Coconut Genebank for the South Pacific (ICG-SP) in Madang, PNG for transfer to the new site in Milne Bay Province.

The project unfortunately faced major implementation delays and management challenges by mid-2018 in-clusive of slow responses from partners that were mostly attributed to time differences between project leader, Bioversity and key partner implementers in the Pacific. A proposal for extension was not accepted by the donor in 2019.


ACIAR SRA (Small Research Activity) on coconut tissue culture protocols

Donor Project Title Project Lead Timeframe Total funding

PICTs covered

ACIAR Optimising tissue culture of co-conut in support of saving the Pacific regional genebank

University of Queensland

1 year (Feb 2017 – Jan 2018)

200,000 AUD

Fiji, PNG, Samoa

Project Aim(s):

To optimize methodologies for the safe transfer of coconut germplasm across borders specifically targeting the transfer of threatened coconut diversity in the International Coconut Genebank – South Pacific (ICG-SP), Madang PNG to the newly proposed site in Milne Bay, PNG.

The research project also aimed at building capacity of partners on all methodologies being investigated.

Specific Objectives

1. to optimize the embryo culture methods, needed for the moving of the gene bank to the far-east of PNG and to set up a duplicate collection in Fiji and Samoa, during a series of research activities, and to re-invigorate the laboratory facilities required to do this,

2. to provide guidance and methodology for the creation of the duplicate collections to be established in Fiji and Samoa, and

3. To strengthen the methodology required for the field collection of new coconut accessions.

Achievement(s):

- Experiments concluded that the new improved method for the collection and establishment of coconut embryo cultures in vitro produces more positive results in regards to cleanliness of materials, survival and growth rates.

- These protocols will be very useful for not only the safe movement of coconut germplasm across borders but will also be useful for the safety conservation and regeneration of coconut germplasm in plant tissue culture.

- An efficient tissue culture protocol is the pre-requisite for achieving a successful cryopreserved coconut collection. Cryopreservation is the highly recommended alternative method for the long-term conservation of coconuts as compared to field collections. CePaCT will be establishing a cryopreservation collection for coconuts under the new ACIAR coconuts for livelihood project.

- The results of this small research activity will support the aims and objectives of the new ACIAR Coconuts for Livelihood Project and the FAO International Treaty BSF Coconut project (see below).


Current Projects

IAEA Mutation Breeding project


Timeframe Total funding

PICTs covered

IAEA Improving crops resilience to cli-mate change through mutation breeding in Pacific Islands

IAEA 4 yrs (2018 – 2021)

619, 625 EUR

Fiji, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, PNG.Partner: SPC

Project Aim(s): Enhanced food security through the use of new mutant varieties selected for enhanced pro-ductivity and better adaptation to biotic/abiotic stress.

Outcome: To enhance the capacities of Pacific Islands using nuclear techniques for the development of im-proved varieties to contribute to food security.

Expected Outputs: • Enhanced capacity of member countries and SPC staffs on mutation breeding techniques including

selection of potential mutants for breeding with other varieties• New mutant crop varieties developed and selected for climate resilience.

Progress so far:

- SPC has attended 2 regional trainings together with partner PICTs on mutation breeding techniques and its applications.

- CePaCT has sent breadfruit and yams to IAEA Lab in Vienna for mutation breeding. The mutated materials will be returned to SPC for field evaluation and selection of useful mutant lines specifically stable mutants with traits for resilience to both CC and pests and diseases and those with good nutritional and agronomical traits.

- Partner PICTs have also shared their selected crops to IAEA for irradiation where they will also carry out field evaluation and selection of useful mutant lines.

ACIAR Coconut project



ACIAR Safeguarding and Deploying Coconut Diversity for Improving Livelihoods in the Pacific Islands (‘Coconuts for Pacific Livelihoods’)

SPC 2019 – 2023 (5 yrs) 2million AUD(SPC component: 1,104,018 AUD)

Fiji, Samoa, PNG, Vanuatu, Solomon Is

Project Aim(s): To support the rejuvenation of coconut-based livelihoods in the Pacific Islands by strengthen-ing the conservation and utilization of coconut diversity and by addressing biotic threats to coconut diversity in the region.

Specific Objectives:

- Develop and deploy strategies for coconut conservation and use- Develop and deploy strategies for addressing biotic threats to coconut (especially CRB-G)- Establish and sustain a platform for coordinating coconut research-for-development initiatives.

Achievement(s):

- Project approved in July 2019 and implementation is starting to roll out- Inception meeting is expected to be carried out in August 2019- The project will complement the recently completed Darwin Initiative Project and the newly approved Co-

conut project under the FAO International Treaty BSF (see below).


FAO TREATY BSF Project – DNA Fingerprinting



PICTs covered

FAO BSF of the ITPGRFA

Using modern biotech-nologies to sustain in Pacific Island countries

SPC (GR) 36 months (2019/20 – 2022)

USD499, 765

Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu

Project Aim(s): The project aims to extend SPC CePaCT’s capacity to carry out plant genetic resource programs by establishing a facility to carry out DNA fingerprinting. Once the capacity has been established, it will be used to redefine core collections of edible aroids, assist with taro breeding for leaf blight tolerance, monitor in situ conservation of diverse genotypes, and to make preliminary studies on salinity and drought tolerance in orphan crops and underutilized species, where conventional approaches offer little potential.

Project Objective:

Overall objective: Reduced vulnerability of farmers in selected PICTs to the impacts of climate change on food security by improved management of crop genetic resources

Outcome: To develop regional skills, capacity and understanding of modern biotechnologies for genetic re-source conservation and utilization of Pacific crops using aroids as a model

Current Status:

- Project aimed to start in February 2019

FAO TREATY BSF Project – Coconut Safety Duplication



PICTs covered

FAO Interna-tional Treaty (BSF)

Safeguarding threatened coconut diversity within the International Coconut Gene-bank for the South Pacific.

SPC 36 months

(2019/20 – 2022/23)

163,000 USD

Fiji, Samoa, PNG.

Overall Goal: Pacific farmers to use and conserve a wider range of more resilient coconut varieties leading to increased productivity and on-farm incomes, increased availability of diverse nutrient-rich food, reduced adverse impacts to the envi-ronment, & enhanced resilience to production shocks. Most importantly, key coconut biodiversity for food security will be safe-guarded for the future.

Specific Objectives:

The project together with other initiatives will work to ensure that Pacific coconut genetic resource is adequately conserved. The diversity of coconut in the regional will be identified and transferred to Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT), SPC as embryo and cultured in vitro. New coconut field genebanks will be established in Fiji, PNG and Tonga with collaboration from national partners and in vitro cultures transferred to the genebanks following pathogen testing. Under the project, training will be provided to selected staff of the different national partners in identification, characterization, coconut embryo isolation, coconut conservation techniques and co-conut breeding. Scientist under the project will also be trained in in vitro techniques for coconut such as embryo culture, somatic embryogenesis and cryopreservation.

Current Status:

- LOA is being finalised. - The project will complement the recently completed Darwin Initiative Project and the new ACIAR Coconuts

for Livelihood project.


NZ Reset



PICTs cov-ered

NZ MFAT – Pacific Reset

Germplasm health through virus-indexing and virus elimination and information manage-ment system for plant genetic resources

LRD-Ce-PaCT

1 yr (Jan-Dec 2019)

300,000 NZD

REGIONAL

Project Aim(s):

• To support ongoing work on Virus Indexing in reducing the backlog of untested planting material, a short-term national technician will be recruited for a duration of 6 months. CePaCT will also procure specialized equipment for the Germplasm Health Unit.

• To operationalize an information management system, CePaCT will procure a barcoding system that will improve the tracking of standard operations applied to the accessions in their routine maintenance, con-servation and distribution, and establish an accountable link with the broader documentation system. A consultant will be hired to help the documentation and data specialist setting up the barcoding system.

• Update website on genetic resources, specifically including descriptions of each accession, covering as a minimum passport data and, ideally characterization and evaluation data as well. The website will be updated to include information on the modalities of seed/planting material distribution, and the use of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA).

• The integration of the Pacific Islands Tree Seed Centre into CePaCT, requires an extension of the existing ‘Tree Seed Technician’ to be supported under this programme funding, which is not secured beyond June 2019.

• A seed systems expert, who will be hired under the NZ funded Landcare- SPC Seeds for Life Project, will build capacities of the PAPGREN Focal Points in the evaluation, selection and promotion of crop varieties at national level and provide them the requisite knowledge and information management tools.

Current Status:

-Implementation just started and in progress….

Ongoing Support (since 2009)

Global Crop Diversity Trust Long Term-Grant



PICTs cov-ered

Global Crop Diversity Trust

Long term funding support for the conser-vation of ex-situ collections of germplasm held by the Pacific Community (SPC)

SPC 2009 - ON-GOING

50,000 USD/yr

REGIONAL

Project Aim(s):

• To support the long-term conservation of aroids and yam collections in CePaCT collections.Key Achievements:

• Safe conservation of aroids and yam collections in CePaCT collections. A total of 1226 aroids and 330 yam accessions are currently maintained in the CePaCT collection. 203 aroid accessions and 20 yam accessions have been virus tested using latest technologies and protocols and are therefore available for access by all PICTs and others.

• This long-term grant has been the anchor funding supporting most of CePaCT’s genebank operations in-cluding: collection missions, capacity building initiatives, staffing, operational (equipment, consumables, re-agents), infrastructure, germplasm distribution, germplasm health testing, breeding and evaluation needs of the Centre in the past years to date. The funding has also supported several regional meetings relevant to Plant genetic resources in the Pacific.


PILLAR 2 – SUSTAINABLE FORESTS AND LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT

The Sustainable Forests and Landscapes team (SFLMP) have worked on developing new approaches to forest landscape restoration, the continuation of ACIAR projects relating to breeding of sandalwood for Fiji & Tonga, sustainable forest management for Niue, Fiji and Tonga, work on survey of cocoa varieties and their properties, and supporting the REDD+ programs of the Melanesian countries.

Forest Landscape RestorationForest landscape restoration (FLR) is the ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes. FLR is more than just planting trees – it is restoring a whole landscape to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time.

Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, a nominal target of was set to restore 15% of degraded ecosystems. LRD continues to work with member countries to improve and operationalise the targets for landscape restoration and the enabling environment for cross-tenure landscape restoration to occur, through policy and legislation revision, best management practices, knowledge management, new technologies and capacity building of the various agencies that can contribute to national landscape restoration targets. Activities include reforestation, agroforestry and improving the protection and management of natural regeneration.

In May 2019 a sub-regional review of national targets under Aichi Biodiversity Target 15, which calls for the restoration of 15% of degraded ecosystems, revealed that none of the 8 target countries had fully SMART national targets for ecosystem restoration. LRD has submitted a major bid for funding to the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Current projects

REDD+


Timeframe Total fund-ing

PICTs covered

GIZ REDD+ Forest conservation in Pacific Island countries

SPC Aug 2019-Aug 2020

1.5M Euro PNG, Solomon Is-lands, Vanuatu, Fiji

Project Aim(s):

• Element 1: Support for the implementation of the National Forest Inventory and Measurement, Reporting and Verifica-tion systems including data preparation (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu)

• Element 2: Preparation of National REDD+ Strategies and REDD+ Implementation Plans (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), particularly Social and Environmental Safeguards and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms are more time-consuming than ex-pected due to complex land ownership, land use and carbon rights

• Element 3: Continuation of the national and local pilot projects (all countries) - The successful forest carbon projects for the voluntary market function as lighthouse projects for the operational and financial feasibility of the REDD+ approach and Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands are calling for local projects to be extended to other areas.

• Element 4: Support for access to REDD+ relevant climate financing (Solomon Islands)• Element 5: Integration of the forestry sector with quantitative targets into the Nationally Determined Contributions,

which have focussed on the energy sector and currently exclude the forestry sector. In cooperation with the Regional Pacific NDC Hub, to integrate the forest sector with ambitious quantitative targets into revised NDCs.

Key Achievements:Phase 2 of REDD+ will end in August 2019 and we are now working on a one year extension with an additional bud-get of 1.5M Euro, from IKI. This has been supported by the 4 project countries and has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment. This extension will enable completion of project activities, and enable an integration of the forestry sector into the NDCs.


Tree Seed CentreSPC’s Tree Seed Centre has now been integrated into the Genetic Resources pillar. It has specialist skills in tree seed technology and management. For the last two years the Tree Seed Centre has continued to collect, with Fijian counterparts, seeds of priority species and has also procured improved seeds from Australia and Brazil in pine and mahogany. Looking ahead, the forest genetic resource strategy and action plan needs updating, and more research is required to document changing flowering and fruiting patterns of key forest tree species.

Reforest Fiji project – LRD contributed to the reforestation aspects of the final part of the Reforest Fiji project, which operated in the Western Division of Viti Levu. LRD staff took over the management and supervision of the replanting program. Another key output from this project was a partnership with the Australian Institute of Foresters to coordinate consultation and drafting of a ‘Fiji Rural and Forest Fire Management Strategy’ which brought focus to the lack of coordination across tenures to address forest fires, which frequently occur from uncontrolled burning and fire escapes from sugar cane fields and result in destruction of young forests.

Climate-smart landscapes for promoting sustainability of Pacific Island agricultural systems



PICTs covered

ACIAR Climate-smart landscapes for pro-moting sustainability of Pacific Island agricultural systems

ACIAR Jan 2018 – Dec 2021

AUD$ 123,000

Fiji, Tonga

Project Aim(s):

Develop a geospatial data tool to:

• allow visualization of agricultural, forestry, climatic, and land use data, and

• enable collection of agricultural, forestry and land use data.

Key Achievements:

• Pilot version of the tool has been developed and is undergoing further field testing.• Contributes to SPC’s business plan KRA2 Increased adoption of Sustainable Land Management plans, policies,

approaches and technologies.

Agroforestry systems in the Pacific

Donor Project Title Project Lead Timeframe Total funding PICTs covered

ACIAR Enhancing value added products and environmental benefits from agroforestry systems in the Pacific

University of the Sunshine Coast

2015-2019 AUD $2.4M

(SPC component $188K)

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji

Objectives:

• Identify multipurpose agroforestry crops with market potential to be value-added in all four countries

• Develop techniques and enhance small to medium enterprises ability to participate in value-adding

• Enable enhanced and gender equitable smallholder participation in agroforestry crop production

• Develop and pilot test catchment revegetation systems linked to markets

• Build capacity and disseminate research findings


Key Achievements:

• Market vendors (529 female and 87 male) in 3 countries received training on “Food Safety & Value Addition for Fresh Produce”.

• Nursery training has increased capacity of participants to produce potting mix, plant seeds, and cuttings and undertake grafting. The Nadroumi Women’s community nursery in Fiji has produced and sold over 1000 seedlings since November 2018, generating approximately $4000FJD.

• Facilitated new export opportunities for smallholders and value adders in Vanuatu.• A new range of value-added agroforestry products is for sale in the Solomon Islands. Products include 3 types of nuts,

muesli, dried bananas and dried paw paws. The project has assisted with business mentoring, research on drying, nutri-tional analysis, packaging and labelling.

• Pilot demonstration sites have been established. This project has established and maintained 2 sites in Fiji and 1 in Van-uatu. In addition, other sites have been established in both countries. Demonstration days have been held at and Malo, Vanuatu (October 2018) and Nadroumai, Fiji (November 2018). These open days were attended by 41 and 16 attendees respectively.

• Nuts have been collected and size variability analysed from Terminalia catappa, and Barringtonia procera. Oil extraction and nutrient analysis is underway.

• Research on honey and pollen sources is underway• This project has built capacity in an industry partner in Fiji, Bula Coffee by facilitating visits to coffee producers in China

and Australia, and assisted with improving coffee genetics and postharvest drying systems.

The work on the ACIAR agroforestry project has led into the FSLM team working with GIZ to assist in delivery of field activities for the GEF 5 “Ridge to Reef” project, particularly in relation to agroforestry and forest landscape restoration and catchment water quality improvement in Viti Levu, Vanua Levu and Taveuni.

Domestication and breeding of Sandalwood in Fiji and Tonga


ACIAR Domestication and breeding of Sandalwood in Fiji and Tonga

ACIAR June2017 – June 2019

Tonga, Fiji

Project Aim(s):

• Improve understanding of the breeding biology and genetic diversity of key traits in Santalum yasi.• Enhance the genetic conservation status of S. yasi in Fiji and Tonga.• Develop strategies to enhance the quality and availability of of S. yasi germplasm and support development of sandal-

wood industries in Fiji and Tonga.• Disseminate the practical outcomes and implications relating to objectives 1-3 to growers and practitioners.

Key Achievements:

• The project has been working on establishing the foundation for conservation and domestication of native sandal-wood (Santallum.yasi) in Fiji and Tonga.

• A few samples from Tonga and Fiji have been collected for DNA testing to improve understanding of the breeding biology and genetic diversity of key traits in S.yasi.

• The project is also assisting with development of strategies to enhance the quality and availability of S.yasi germplasm.


PILLAR 3 – SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTUREThe Sustainable Agriculture Pillar aims to enhance food and nutrition security in PICTs through

the promotion of integrated crop and livestock production systems and building resilience of agricultural systems to climate change and capacity building of national stakeholders and communities. Key services involve development and promotion of climate smart and nutritional crop varieties, soil health & water management, pest and disease management, animal husbandry practices and strengthening agricultural extension systems through effective partnerships and agricultural information systems and networks.

PLANT HEALTHPlant Health team have continued significant work in four main areas. These are:

• Coordinating Pacific emergency response work, particularly in relation to Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB)• On-going development of Plant Health Systems to accommodate current and future challenges imposed by

Climate Change variables • Construction of a Plant Health Biosecurity Containment (BC3) or Physical containment (PC3) level 3 accredited

laboratory at Australian standard at Narere, Suva• Designing and planning LRD elements of work under the PRISE (of which the plant health components operate

under Pillar 3, and the biosecurity components operate under Pillar 4).

Coconut Rhinoceros BeetleThe team has played a key role in supporting member countries and co-ordinating resources to control the destructive Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle biotype, known as CRB-G. In September 2017, SPC jointly with a number of regional partners including (FAO, ACIAR, AgResearch NZ, PHAMA program, Universities of Guam, Hawaii and University of Queensland, Solomon Islands government, PNG government and Palau government, USDA-APHIS and Hawaii Department of Agriculture (remotely), Oil Palm Research Association (OPRA-PNG) and Guadalcanal Plain Palm Oil Limited (GPPOL) organised a sub-regional consultation to strengthen cooperation in addressing the threat imposed by the CRB-G. The directions from the workshop were supported at HOAFS 2017, and included regional and national coordination of CRB response plans, implementation of sustainable monitoring, control and eradication programs, integrated pest management, and investigation of appropriate regimes of biocontrols, insecticide treatment and phytosanitation.

There have been multiple collaborations stemming from the Pacific Coconut Rhinoceros Regional Strategic Plan 2018-2022, strongly supported by MFAT NZ, through AgResearch NZ. The response has initially focussed on drawing together lessons from Guam, Port Moresby and Guadalcanal to develop phytosanitary measures for coconut plantation management, and ensure supply and distribution of Metarhizium anisopliae majus fungus and appropriate CRB trap management. There has been extensive awareness training amongst national biosecurity departments to minimise further transmission of the beetle via international and inter-island shipping.

The LRD Plant Health team have provided technical assistance to address a recent incursion of CRB S-biotype into Vanuatu, which has enabled a fast and coordinated approach to strategically support the national emergency declaration and biosecurity response.

PC3 Plant Health LaboratoryA major development at the Narere campus has been the construction of a fully accredited Physical Containment Level 3 (PC3) Plant Health laboratory which will be enable safe handling of imported micro-organisms, approved plant material infected with pathogens subject to biosecurity control for in vitro and in vivo use and infected fresh or frozen fruit and vegetable samples for in vitro use. The laboratory will be fully commissioned in the second half of 2019 and will enhance LRD’s capability to undertake research into emerging pests and diseases, and continue its on-going work with propagation of biological control agents.


Current projects

Integrated Protected Cropping Systems


ACIAR Integrated Protected Cropping systems

ACIAR / SPC Apr 2017 – Dec 2020

347,739 AUD Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Objectives:

(1) evaluate key technologies and production practices to enable protected cropping of vegetables by smallholders, (2) assess strategies for increasing adoption of protected cropping in market oriented value chains for out-of-season vege-table production, and, (3) identify strengths and weaknesses of different market oriented vegetable value chain configurations and build capaci-ty of players in value chains.

Highlights:

Evaluation and development of different protected cropping systems, identification of agronomic practices, assessing quality, yield potential, pest incidence and disease tolerance/resistance and economic analysis, promotion of high value crops through value chain support in the target countries and scaling of the protected cropping systems through institu-tionalisation process within Ministries of Agriculture.

Responding to emerging pest and disease threats to Horticulture in the Pacific Islands


Timeframe Total funding PICTs cov-ered

ACIAR Responding to emerging pest and dis-ease threats to Horticulture in the Pacific Islands (ICM2)

ACIAR / SPC 2018 - 2023 347,739 AUD Fiji, Samoa, Tonga

Objectives:

* Build diagnostic and strategic planning capacity for integrated pest and disease management (IPDM), including biologi-cal control, development and implementation of biological control strategies for invasive and emerging pests of selected crops and cropping systems,

* Extend IPDM and insecticide resistance management (IRM) strategies to additional cropping systems (based on the successful Brassica model).

Highlights:

• Promotion of plant health clinics to support capacity building of extension services in diagnosis pests and disease problems,

• Supporting pests and disease surveillance, pests and disease diagnostic and authentication, • Establishment of a biological control lab in SPC Narere and distribution of bio-control to combat disease incursions in

countries.• Emergency response capability including support for coconut rhinoceros beetle and other economic pests and dis-

eases.


EXTENSION SERVICESLRD’s support for extension services in the region is provided through the Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services Network (PIRAS), a network of agriculture extension and advisory services in the Pacific, established in 2015 to support leadership and capacity building of agricultural extension and advisory services in the PICTs through information and knowledge sharing, networking and joint advocacy and action.

Current projects

Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services (PIRAS) network support:



IFAD Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services (PIRAS) network support

SEARCA July 2019 – December 2020

USD$222,000 Fiji, Regional

Objectives:

• To strengthen capacities of public and private agricultural extension and rural advisory services institutions to effec-tively serve the needs of smallholder farmers;

• To strengthen the availability and accessibility of appropriate and up-to-date knowledge and evidence on innovative advisory services from a range of sources in the APR region (through country fora and through APIRAS) and worldwide (through GFRAS).

• To generate evidence on the impact and potential of extension services and using the same for evidence-based policy advocacy for demand-driven and market-oriented services

Key Achievements:

• Capacity needs assessment and priority setting for capacity building needs for agriculture extension and advisory services in the PICTs and promotion of GFRAS capacity building modules to support the development of extension curriculum in tertiary and secondary teaching institutions: USP’s School of Agriculture and Food Technology (SAFT), Solomon Islands National University (SINU_ and Vanuatu Agriculture College (VAC).

• Development and roll of out of extension training packages including the already developed PARAVET module• D e -velopment knowledge management systems (PAIS and web portal) to strengthen availability and access to up-to-date knowledge.

• Finalisation and launch of the Pacific Islands Extension Strategy (PIES) to guide PIRAS work• Supporting institutional reform for extension specifically in Vanuatu through extension framework development. • Establishment of the Fiji Agricultural Advisory Services Network (FAAS), a network of Fiji extension services from both

public and non-public stakeholders and documentation of key extension practices currently being promoted in Fiji.


SOIL HEALTH AND CROP PRODUCTIONCurrent traditional farming systems in the Pacific have become intensified and resulted in the depletion of the soil nutrient capital. Addressing this critical agricultural resource is vital to ensure sustainable intensification of agriculture and resilience to future challenges. LRD is collaborating with ACIAR, CSIRO, New Zealand Land Care, FAO, University of Tasmania and University of Adelaide in strengthening the capacity of countries related to soil health and soil management.

Current Projects

Improving soil health, agricultural productivity and food security on atolls 2015-2019


ACIAR Improving soil health, agricultural productivity and food security on atolls

Geoff Dean, UTAS 2015-Dec 2019

AUD $1M Kiribati, Tuvalu

Project Aims:

(1) increase the sustainability and productivity of starchy staple food production systems;

(2) increase household and community production and consumption of local nutritious foods through extension support and

(3) identify and develop opportunities for inter-island trade for high value crops;

Key Achievements:

• Identified remedies for nutrient deficiencies through the development and evaluation of targeted compost recipes for limiting nutrients for atolls using tested local sources such as coconut logs, cowpea, drumstick

• Evaluation and selection of adapted varieties using different soil management regimes• Analysis and documentation and promotion of underutilised nutritious leafy vegetables for atolls • Diversification of taro pit agroforestry systems and integration and renovation of traditional knowledge on use of babai

pits • Documentation of best bet compost recipes for atolls• Value chain support to promote inter-island marketing of local foods

Soil management in Pacific Islands: investigating nutrient cycling and development of the Soils Portal SPC’s role is in contributing technical advice to countries on building the capacity of extension services particularly in relation to improving soil sampling, testing and interpretation protocols through the development of guidelines and promotion of farmer field schools and compost production, as well as maintenance of trials

and assisting with assessing barriers to adoption of soil health technologies.



PICTs covered

ACIAR Soil management in Pacific Islands: investigating nutrient cycling and development of the Soils Portal

ACIAR 2017-2021 AUD $250,000

Kiribati, Tuvalu, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa

Aims:1) To identify the barriers that are preventing the sustainable soil management; 2) To quantify nutrient cycling in island agricultural and taro production systems and undertake field trials to highlight the importance of budgeting for soil fertility management and increasing yield; 3) To identify problems with and subsequently improved current soil sampling, testing and interpretation protocols and develop soil type specific protocols; 4) To develop the Pacific Soil Portal to enable sustainable soil management in the farming systems of the region.


Key Achievements:

• Improvements in compost production and maintenance of trials, and promotion of soil research results through exten-sion/farmer field days

• Robust nutrient budgets for taro production systems at scales ranging from the plot through to the field, farm and island

• Pacific Soil Portal (beta version) developed as a tool to enable the transfer of site-specific nutrient management to other locations

• Collation of the existing legacy knowledge on soil type distributions into an accessible form.

ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION (AHP)AHP has focussed on leading LRD’s contribution to the One Health strategy. ‘One Health’ is an integrated approach between animal and human health sectors as well as climate change and the relevant environmental authorities to provide an integrated pathway to long-term healthy living, specifically for women and youth. This inter-divisional initiative is being led by SPC’s Public Health Division with the approach endorsed by the Pacific Heads of Health Departments in April 2019. This initiative was initiated through the creation of a One Health Taskforce for SPC in 2018.

LRD remains the Pacific focal point for the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) which operates as an early warning and monitoring for all OIE-listed animal diseases globally.

LRD provides technical support and guidance on Emergency Response Plans (ERP) and conducts simulation training exercises on country ERP when paravet trainings are conducted. These enable training to continue to support officers to recognize and respond to diseases such as TB and Brucellosis.

Under the SPC- New Caledonia Cooperation Fund, SPC accompanied other experts to Tahiti to observe management of cattle tick and to strengthen the relationship between the OCT and other PICTS.

ParaVetThe long-standing Paravet training program continues, with a summer school training in Palau in June 2019. The PARAVET Training Project seeks to increase the numbers of trained para-veterinary officers and animal health and production specialists in the region by providing Para-veterinary training through a distance learning programme using modular components. Diseases of livestock have long been recognised as both major limitations to animal production and as significant threats to public health in the Pacific region, and the Paravet training provides technical training and support to the region’s capacity to prepare for, and respond effectively to threats posed by emerging infectious diseases of animals, including zoonotic diseases such as the highly pathogenic avian influenza.provides an important foundation for quarantine and meat hygiene and safety management.

Paravet currently has 6 modules including Meat Hygiene and Food Safety, which has been piloted in Vanuatu and Fiji. Recently an Aquatic module has been added. The module is developed by Aquatic Biosecurity, FAME Division. This will focus on issues relating to aquaculture and mariculture. A new module is planned for Apiculture (bee-keeping).

Paravet training is a rigorous course, involving a significant commitment by participants. They must undertake two days of orientation and then 16-weeks of theory and practical. They are assessed on attendance, participation and assignments. During a final summer school there is a week of revision and a final exam. It is anticipated that Paravet training will continue under the EDF11 PRISE programme, Livestock Disease Surveillance component. Over the life of the Paravet training program, there have been more than 600 people trained in 17 PICTs. The most recent training in Palau had 14 participants, with 7 hoping to graduate (subject to successful examinations) and 7 commencing the training.


PILLAR 4 – MARKETS FOR LIVELIHOODS

The Markets for Livelihoods Pillar aims to build resilient farm families and ensure food and nutritional security through improving availability, access, utilization and quality of food supplies in rural areas and, in the growing urban populations in the Pacific Region. It has particular focus on high value crops production and transformation; certified organic agriculture; agri-tourism; and agri-preneurship, including a focus on youth and women in the sector. Quality management and systems to organise farmers into value chains such as participatory guarantee systems and clusters are key to the success of small family farms, and provide a synergy with extension service support covered under Pillar 2.

The work on the Markets for Livelihoods Pillar includes Biosecurity services and providing Secretariat functions for the Pacific Plant Protection Organisation (PPPO); the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom); as well as individual projects that address value chain issues and development.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Coconut Industry Development for the Pacific (CIDP)Donor Project Title Project Lead Timeframe Total funding PICTs covered

EU Coconut Industry Develop-ment for the Pacific (CIDP)

SPC Feb 2016 – Dec 2019

EUR €3,500,000 15 Pacific ACP coun-tries (including Timor Leste)

Aims:Result 1: Sector competitiveness and sustainability are enhanced by the wide dissemination of production intensifi-

cation methods and by strengthening synergies between various actors involved in the value chains.Result 2: Access to information and financing services are facilitated for smallholders and other sector stakeholders.Result 3: Small producers have better access to risk management tools, especially concerning climate and market

risks.Result 4: Existing regional and national strategies are harmonized and made consistent in order to realize synergies

and to strengthen the regional integration of markets.

Key Achievements:• 3 producers supported to participate in International Coconut Oil Conference• 67 stakeholders participated in Value Chain workshop.• Value Chain Working Group meeting provided training to 16 stakeholders in value chain mapping• 30 Trainers trained on coconut production improvement, intensification and seeds supply system• Second Value Chain Working Group meeting provided training to 32 stakeholders and actors in Value Chain

Analysis for Quality Copra Oil. • 9 actors/stakeholders trained on food handling and hygiene in Rabi Island• CIDP funded 6 technical people for International Certification Course on Coconut Plantation Management (Sa-

moa, PNG, Vanuatu, FSM, Kiribati, Tonga & Tuvalu)• 5 participants from 5 PICs attended 48th COCOTECH conference (Non APCC Members Cook Islands, Niue, Nauru,

Palau & Tuvalu)• Coconut Veneer Steering Meeting and Stakeholders Consultation brought 26 participants from governments,

NGO’s, private sector and donors to map out the future for coconut veneer and investment opportunities

• TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES provide to 195 coconut sector stakeholders.• Partnership between Banaban Virgin Coconut Producers (Rabi) and Essence of Fiji for supply of VCO and cosmet-

ics• Tavulomo Coconut Processing Limited (Fiji) with French & Japanese company supplying coconut snacks and

VCO• 7 countries seeds supply system designed by the coconut production expert (Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands,

Tonga, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu).• CIDP selected 5 countries to support implementation (Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga & Kiribati).


PACIFIC PLANT PROTECTION ORGANISATIONPPPO is the principle vehicle for coordinating phyto-sanitary biosecurity in the Pacific. It is responsible for co-coordinating harmonisation of phytosanitary measures and for fostering co-operation in plant protection and other phytosanitary matters. This includes prohibitions, restrictions and specifications for entry of plants and plant products and definition of operational procedures. PPPO meets annually and the executive committee meets on a six-monthly basis.

The executive committee meeting in March 2019 was attended by 11 countries and revised the list of invasive species of concern and pathways of transmission for the three regions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. They discussed the ePhyto hub (developed by IPPC, to enable electronic exchange of phytosanitary certificates) and requested LRD to continue its role as secretariat for PPPO, moving as quickly as possible back to an enlarged biosecurity capability. This is anticipated under with the additional funding from EDF11. The group was also advised that SPC is now an accredited entity of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), enabling it to lodge applications and implement GCF funded Projects.

The STDF secretariat of the World Trade Organisation recently funded a scoping study on the creation of a SPS Pacific Regional Platform for PICTs, located in SPC, which will be discussed at forthcoming meetings of PPPO. It is proposed that this would focus on providing effective communication and coordination in the fields of food safety, animal (both terrestrial and aquatic) and plant health and consequently, invasive species, biosecurity and trade facilitation.

POETCOMPOETCom is the peak body for organic agriculture in the Pacific and provides governance and management of the Pacific Organic Standard and the Pacific Organic Guarantee System. POETCom is established as a not-for-profit membership-based organisation, housed within SPC as a programme.

COMPLETED PROJECTS

Engaging youth in Fiji and Vanuatu in organic farming – a Farm to Table Approach


UNDP Engaging youth in Fiji and Vanuatu in organic farming

POETCom Mar 2016 – Feb 2018

USD$930,000 Fiji, Vanuatu

Aims:

1. Assist youth to develop essential knowledge & skills for the labour market. Provide the support service they need to secure decent work opportunities in either wage/self-employment. 2. Create employment opportunities in organic agriculture through a value chain approach of public private partnerships in the key economic sectors of agriculture and tourism 3. Strengthen the institutional capacity of the National Youth Councils 4. Address the vulnerability of youth work-ing within the informal economy by supporting policy dialogue with Government and creating enabling environment for SME businesses.

Key Achievements:

• Establishment of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) groups• In Vanuatu with more than 3,300 farmers having being certified along with three certified organic products (pea-

nuts, coffee and cassava flour) by three enterprises.• In Fiji 330 farmers were certified and five PGS groups with one organic product (cassava flour) and one social

enterprise.• Ten knowledge products (Organic Simplified Booklet, PGS guideline, Seasonal Crop Calendars, Adaptation Tech-

niques, Good Agricultural Practices, How to Grow Herbs, Intercropping, Organic Farmer Cooperative Structure, 3 video recipes and a food processing guideline) were developed by FRIEND in Fiji. In Vanuatu, five knowledge products (Growing organic crop nurseries flier, Cooking Soil flier, Growing organic peanuts flier, Harvesting and processing organic peanuts flier, Preparing seeds for organic nurseries flier, Vanuatu Participatory Guarantee Stan-dard and Vanuatu Participatory Guarantee Guidelines) were developed by FSA in Vanuatu.


Youth leading learning in climate resilient value chains in the PacificDonor Project Title Project Lead Timeframe Total funding PICTs coveredCTA - the Cen-tre for Agricul-tural and Rural Cooperation

Youth leading learning in climate resilient value chains in the Pacific (YLLP)

LRD POETCom November 2016 – December 2017

86,000Euro Cook Islands, RMI,Niue

Objectives

- 50 Young people working with three lead producer organizations in Cook Islands, Niue, and Republic of Marshall Islands are trained to provide technical production and marketing support through ICTS and specific social media platforms to 400 young farmers.

- Eight best practices for climate resilience, including improved traditional practices, are documented by young farmers and disseminated using information and communications technology/multimedia through young farmer networks and more broadly.

- ICT marketing tools are developed by young people for the products of each producer organisation and entrepreneur.

- A shared social media platform is developed by youth participants that youth members of each project organisation utilise to share information and learning on climate resilient agriculture and agriculture entrepreneurism.

Key Achievements:

• The project hosted over 100 youth on Web 2.0 workshops and built capacity to utilise social media in capturing and sharing agricultural knowledge and experiences. These workshops and ongoing support from POETcom also built capacity in storytelling and developing content to be shared via social media.

• The focus of the narrative that was developed through the programme is that organic farming can help protect food security by strengthening farm resilience to climate change. Participants learned how to deliver the narra-tive through various forms – poetry, articles, news reports, play acting, how to videos etc. A gaming concept was applied to promote interactivity and fun.

• All youth groups continued to be engaged in monitoring the trials to demonstrate the impact of organic prac-tices on key climate resilience indicators. With support of the project team these practices were documented in farmer fact sheets and in ‘how to videos’ 18 Fact sheets and 6 How to video’s completed by youth are available from the Organic Pasifika website.

• Through utilising the Youth Learning exchange the project also collected best practices from young farmers in Vanuatu and Fiji who are engaged in other POETCom projects to share through the network. 16 participants, 10 males, 6 females were part of this learning event. Selected workshop participants remained in Vanuatu to partic-ipate in the Pacific Week of Agriculture. They staffed the POETCom stall and shared widely the fact sheets devel-oped and talked to many people, including several school groups about organics and resilience to climate change.

• Cook Islands and Niue have commenced organic night markets, all promotion and advertising is being done via social media and the events are providing a valuable new income stream for young farmers.

• A shared “Pacific Organic Warriors” face book page developed by youth as part of this project.


Capacity Building for Resilient Agriculture in the Pacific


IFAD Capacity Build-ing for Resilient Agriculture in the Pacific

LRD POETCom Oct 2019 – June 2019

USD 1,026,000. Cook Islands, RMI,Niue

ObjectiveThe overall objective and goal of the Project was to enable young farmers in the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands and Niue to work with producer organisations and earn an income through resilient agricultural practices help to combat climate change and natural hazards.Specific Outputs a) Training of 150 members of four producer organisations to provide technical and marketing support to 600 young farmers; b) Development of training and extension materials for four target products; c) A 10% increase in the number of youth members of producer organisations; d) Documentation and dissemination of four best practices including improved traditional practices using informa-tion and communications technology. e) Outreach campaigns to target the 3,600 members of the households of direct beneficiaries

Key Achievements:

• Overall producer organisations in each country became more active and organised as result of the Project with youth membership increasing by the target 10%, with 42 youth members collectively registered out of 120 total members. Producer organisations in the Marshall Islands and Niue are in a strong position to contin-ue to function beyond the Project, however urgent assistance will be needed in the Cook Islands

• The initial Peer Review Assessments and strategic action plans developed through the Project identified organisational training and training of trainers as the key areas to build and strengthen capacities of producer organisations in each country. As a result the Project delivered multiple trainings in these areas with on farm demonstration and research sites established in 2015 to provide practical training grounds throughout the Project. Demonstration sites were setup with the assistance of consultant, Dr Shane Tutua (PhD Soils and a POETcom member with an organic farm in the Solomon Islands) build monitoring and evaluation capacities of organisations to conduct research trials to determine the affects organic vs. conventional farming methods on soil parameters over time.

• Training of trainers in organic PGS certification and resilient agriculture practices was conducted for 184 individuals (25 in Marshall Islands, 60 in Niue, and 46 in Cook Islands). Documentation of extension trainings by producer organisations requires improvement, however it is estimated form activity reports that over 780 youths were trained in these areas over the duration of the Project.

• Over 40 knowledge and communication products produced and shared throughout the Project. Use of digital technology and social media was highly effective with campaigns reaching over 191,000 online users. Community-centred marketing developments (i.e. monthly organic markets) also raised awareness nationally, although documentation of their reach was not conducted.

• 780 beneficiaries received training to support entering markets and the 10% increase in membership was achieved in each country, however overall youth membership 42 out of 120 registered members in the lead producer groups.

• Pilot Young Producer Group Commenced production of identified target products with strong income-gener-ating market pathways established in all countries with the exception of the Cook Islands.

• Young Farmer Learning Exchange Workshop completed in Vanuatu in October 2018 with 16 sponsored youth from participating countries and 150 youth in attendance from the Region.


Current Projects

Establishment of Internal Control Systems for Organic Certification


IFAD .Minis-try Agricul-ture Fiji

Establishment of Inter-nal Control Systems for Organic Certification

POETCom Oct 2019 – Au-gust 2019

FJD 96,000 Fiji

Objective:To support targeted Highland farmers to put in place market recognised organic certification systems to permit higher returns. Specific Outputs:

- Farmers supported to put in place market – recognised certification systems to permit higher returns to produc-ers.

- 50 growers trained to be able to produce up to 500 mt per year of organic certified ginger in environmentally sustainable fashion.

- 50 growers trained to produce up to 2000 mt per year of organic certified bananas- 300 village based farmers trained to harvest up to 1000 mt of wild harvest turmeric from project area and adjacent

locations

Key Achievements:

• 524 people (114 women and 410 men) were part of the workshops in the three districts. 312 people (49 female, 261 male and 1 unreported) have already shown keen interest in organics and have signed the PGS Pledge Forms confirming their commitment to organics and to the Project. All 312 pledges were signed between 28 Jan 2019 to 1 May 2019.

• A Farmer Database developed for the three districts (16 villages). This database keeps a detailed record of all farmers under the project that have pledged to be organic (to keep their land and surrounding resources free from chemical fertilizers) as per the Pacific Organic Standards.

• A draft value chain map for the first three targeted commodities; banana, ginger and wild turmeric developed. For each product key players at each step from farm supply through harvest, storage and delivery were identified.

• Completion of the PGS Manual (operational guidelines and rules) for the Highlands. This Manual is a critical Quality Control step for uniform implementation of policies in the different PGS groups.

• Identification through present land use survey, targeted areas suitable for planting organic ginger.• Identification of two model farms for the propagation of organic planting stock including Ginger and Banana

Building prosperity for women producers and women owned businesses through organic value chains


EU Building prosperity for wom-en producers and women owned businesses through organic value chains

POETCom Aug 2018 – Aug 2022

EUR €3,500,000 FSM, RMI, Palau, Kiribati

Aims:

• Women have increased financial independence and influence in decision-making within the household. • Women are increasingly participating in organic value chains including in decision-making processes. • Women and men benefit from viable organic value chains that meet market needs and increase food security. • The Pacific organic sector has more gender equitable policies and practice.


PLANNING, MONITORING EVALUATION AND LEARNING (PMEL)PMEL is providing support to the conceptualisation, design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes. PMEL enables the division to enhance its development effectiveness and achieve better research and development outcomes. It defines potential impact pathways linked to Member countries’ SDGs. An understanding of these impact pathways assists LRD in shaping / aligning its interventions to the overall objectives of the Pacific Community – both at national and regional level. One of the key pursuits is to ascertain the effectiveness of monitoring and evaluation systems in the Pacific and, where required, build capacities of focal points of stakeholders in data collection, analysis and reporting thus contributing the results monitoring frameworks and results reporting.

LRD contributes to the six-monthly reporting process of SPC, collating information on all projects and activities into a format which is recorded in the Pacific Community Annual Results Report and also displayed on the Pacific Data Hub (https://pacificdata.org/).

RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENTResearch for development acts as the support unit for project design, planning and coordination.

LRD works with a range of donors and partners to ensure a coordinated approach to research and development across the Pacific Region. The Pacific region is not only a complex social network, but also faces the Anthropocene triple challenge of preventing the loss of biodiversity, adapting to climate change, and sustainably support a growing population.

The traditional strength of LRD has been in efficient and effective systems for food and forestry production. This view has expanded to look at the whole land use system and managing working lands, forestry and natural resources. Research is now looking at both the production components

ICKMInformation, Communications and Knowledge Management (ICKM) is providing support in harnessing, streamlining and managing databases, knowledge network platforms, production of communications and knowledge products for dissemination, managing of social media handles, corporate website products, LRD website development and its use in the next five years, publishing, and knowledge sharing with members and partners. Beginning in 2019, it will revive the LRD newsletter as a key communications product with stakeholders in the region and with heads and ministers of agriculture and forests. The LRD website is being overhauled and the LRD knowledge platforms that currently sit under network secretariats will over the next five years undergo reviews and progressively be streamlined and linked to the Pacific Data Hub. Part of the review will include examining improved system linkages with the member countries and territories, capacity building and stronger building of impact pathways through tacking mechanisms to map use, usefulness, practical applications of information, knowledge and data at national level and vice versa from national to regional decision-making. ICKM works closely with PMEL and R4D to strengthen LRD’s core services in the region.

Within SPC, ICKM works closely with SPC Corporate Communications, SPC Digital Library and Publishing, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Strategic Planning and Learning (SPL) and builds linkages for shared work with member ministries of agriculture and forestry, and with partners for equitable communications and sharing. Strengthening the Pacific Agricultural Information System (PAIS) as a core digital platform centralising LRD databases and portals and linked to the Pacific Data Hub (PDH) over the next five years will improve information, communications and knowledge sharing with members and partners.

DIRECTORATE SERVICES

https://pacificdata.org/

https://pacificdata.org/


and also the interaction, relationships and feedback loops between these components. Key to understanding these system are local communities. Building the qualitative research capabilities within LRD is underway to complement the existing quantitative strengths.

A focus is on strengthening the regional R4D capacity of LRD to benefit all Pacific region members. Specific projects will continue to be supported that meet unique needs of a region. Both the regional and specific projects will be captured under the Integrated Programs to ensure a greater level of coordination and sharing of information and resources.

Partnerships with donor agencies and regional research organisations are strengthening, and this is reflected by a range of new and pipeline projects.

R4D team is working closely with ICKM to develop the means for members for improving access to current and relevant research and development information. One measure of progress that R4D is supporting is to increase the number of publications authored by LRD and our Pacific colleagues evolving from our current projects.

Completed Projects

Pacific Agriculture Policy Project (PAPP)Donor Project Title Project

LeadTimeframe Total funding PICTs covered

EU Pacific Agriculture Policy Programme (PAPP)

SPC March 2013 – June 2018

EUR 8.6 M Pacific ACP countries + Timor Leste

Objectives:

• To enhance the regional (Pacific) and interregional capabilities of agricultural sectors in eradicating poverty. • To increase the capability of regional agricultural development organisations of the Pacific region to address the

development needs of smallholder agriculture, by improving the linkages between small and medium farmers and markets.

Key Result Areas:

1) Strengthening regional agricultural development strategy2) Improving the dissemination and adoption of applied agricultural production research technologies3) Contributing to agricultural enterprise development through improved market linkages.

Key Achievements:

• The platforms and use of knowledge management that have been built upon by PAPP – namely PAFPNet, the Poli-cy Banks, the Pacific Agriculture Information System and use of social media (Facebook and Twitter) have increased access to information which directly increases inclusivity and engenders equity between communities.

• Support for farmer organisations has been beneficial and that partnerships will evolve, with on-going recognition of the roles of PIFON and its member organisations, and PIRAS.

• Work by PAPP on comparing and contrasting the operation of three rural markets complemented other studies and has contributed to important improvements in the planning and operation of markets around the Pacific. An important finding was that equitable access to markets by all farmers who wish to participate needs to be carefully monitored.

• Effectively linking farmers to markets requires supplying them with timely information, understanding issues and economics related to transport, their ability to use municipal markets or other facilities and the willingness of pur-chasers to work back upstream through the value chain to achieve the quality and supplies that they want.

Within the reporting period for this report, PAPP undertook a major integrated training exercise in Tonga in November 2017, which placed training on open pollinated seed management processes in the broader context of land use planning and agri-development. This, in conjunction with supporting the development of the Hango Seed Centre, enabled rapid emergency response with distribution of crop seeds to farmers on ‘Eua Island after Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2018.

The PAPP team discussed the feasibility of Farmers’ Markets for Pohnpei through a stakeholders Workshop titled ‘Linking Smallholder farmers to Markets’ in November 2017. In 2018, open pollinated seed (OPS) and taro breeding training was conducted in Samoa and OPS training was conducted in Vanuatu. This content has been effectively continued under the Pacific Seeds for Life Integrated Programme.


ANNEX 1 – COUNTRY ACTIVITIES AND RESULTSThe listing below was prepared through analysis of the Pacific Community Results Report for 2018 which is available from the Pacific Data Hub website https://pacificdata.org/results-explorer.

Activities across all PICTs

REGIONAL/MULTI COUNTRY 13 fact sheets and manual for atoll agriculture available online outlining soil improvement technologies and nutri-tional facts of 12 locally available crop varieties, with reported utilization by Ministry of Health and IFAD Agriculture Department of Kiribati and Tuvalu for community engagement

7 technical participants from 7 PICTs government agencies trained on Coconut Plantation Management in Sri Lanka for 2 months and have now taken on lead roles for development of the coconut industry in their countries At least 500 youth participated in value chain development of high value crops for local and export marketsCapacity building needs assessment for extension services completedCivil society organizations (PIPSO, PIFON, POETCom, PIANGO) drafting MoU for joint working relationship to pursue sustainable development objectives

Conservation of the region’s important food crops by CePaCT: 2,183 accessions of alocasia, banana, bele, breadfruit, cassava, crytosperma, ginger, pandanus, pinapple, potato, sandalwood, sugarcane, sweet potato, yam, taro, vanilla and xanthosoma safely conserved at CePaCT in both in vitro and field collectionsEstablishment of 7 breadfruit field varieties into tissue culture Final Draft Coconut Risk Management and Mitigation Manual

Harmonization of obligations and requirements achieved for Solomon islands and Fiji under the Rotterdam Conven-tion for chemicals management through updates to the Pesticide Stock Management System (PSMS)

In support of the development of resilient and nutritious crop diversity, CePaCT made available 340 sterile in vitro plantlets of sweet potato, yam and breadfruit to IAEA for irradiation purposesOfficers from Forestry and Education sectors (SI, VN, Fiji, Niue and Tonga) exposed to high standards of self-regula-tion for logging, fire management, value addition for forest products and involvement of community in manage-ment of plantations and forest resources. Pacific Islands Extension Strategy (PIES) endorsed by Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services (PIRAS) board and launched at Seed ForumPacific region represented at global youth in agriculture Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD)

PAIS launched online and accessible to all research and extension practitioners and farmers, and has been recog-nized by PICTs as their information systemRegional Coconut Financing Study report completed by PIPSORegional REDD+ Campaign Strategy developed and implemented in 4 countries (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and PNG) and officers of Ministries of Forestry and Agriculture and Environment using the materials for awareness raising in communities and within governmentAn overview of the market for Pacific island coconut products and the ability of industries to respond report pub-lishedThree training manuals on coconut pests & diseases, e-commerce for marketing and Sustainable coconut produc-tion & seeds system developedTowards development of Center of Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) into an area of excellence, final CePaCT’s Business Plan and draft Investment Plan completed and two new SOPs on distribution and conservation have been submitted for audit by the Crop Trust Towards enhancing fruit production and post harvest handling systems, breadfruit surveys completed in 3 countries (Vanuatu/Samoa/Fiji) and molecular studies on these varieties are carried out in the University of Sunshine Coast, Australia

https://pacificdata.org/results-explorer


Towards improving access and availability of crop diversity, information on 2,163 CePACT accessions is now available on Genesys, the Global Gateway to Genetic Resources, where germplasm accessions from genebanks around the world can be easily found and orderedTowards supporting the availability and access to crop diversity for food and nutritional security as well as resilience building, CePaCT has completed virus testing on 26% of all accessions. 224 yam accessions were tested for badnavi-rus. Training manual on coconut production and seed system developed and 30 people trained (1 woman) from 18 countries TOTMaintenance of the Pacific Organic Guarantee System Provision of technical advice on organic production and certification Training manual on pest and disease management on coconut plantation for 35 participants from 15 ACP countries TOT

Value chain roadmap for the development of coconut veneer products finalized and endorsed

Country Activities

COOK ISLANDSSupported to implement open pollinated seed supply systems

Establishment of organic Participatory Guarantee System Natura Kuki Airani

Soil health training provided to organic growers

Supported participation of 2 youth in IFOAM Organic World Congress in India

Supported participation to the POETCom general assembly in Wallis and Futuna

CIDP funded participation to the COCOTECH conference and exhibition.

Coconut seeds supply system designed.

FIJI152 virgin coconut oil and coffee producers in 4 locations gained access to local and international (Australia and NZ) markets for their products through establishing organic Participatory Guarantee Systems

Supported development of Fiji National Organic Policy

Trained 30 NGO Government staff in basics of organic participatory guarantee systems

Supported participation in the IFOAM Organic World Congress in India

Supported participation in POETCom General Assembly in Wallis and Futuna

4 participants each from Fiji took part in a study tour to Germany to learn about Forest and Climate, SFM and Value adding

2,570 banana, breadfruit, pineapple and sweet potato plants made accessible for use to Ministry of Agriculture, Fiji to support food security and market access efforts

3 newly released varieties of nutritious and resilient sweet potato and taro were distributed to 171 farmers from across Fiji by the Ministry of Agriculture Fiji’s Koronivia Research Station.

32 ministry officials completed Paravet certification

Supported to implement seed supply system

6 tissue culture technicians demonstrated improved practical knowledge of tissue culture mass propagation and field acclimatization techniques and process

Coconut seeds supply system designed

Country specific financing opportunities circulated to coconut enterprises


Developed and tested an online mobile data collection system that improves the capacity of researchers (efficiency & effectiveness). Now being used by LRD and Ministry staff in current projects for CRB(G) site & clean-up assess-ments; and also cocoa tree phenology studies.

Draft national rural and forest fire management strategy to be submitted to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Devel-opment

Fiji Country Gender Assessment of Agriculture and Rural Development completed

Fiji Forest Harvesting Code of Practice (FFHCOP) strategies submitted for endorsement to the Fiji Ministry of Forestry

Generating new knowledge on possible adaptation of farming practices for the reduction of sweet potato weevil infestation levels which affects agricultural yield

Increase the international awareness of the Fijian cocoa industry by participating in the Cocoa of Excellence Pro-gramme 2019

Increased awareness of communities in Fiji for the management of mangroves, with members voicing their con-cern about the need to conserve mangroves and the need for community-based management

National Forestry Monitoring System enhanced for improved compliance with REDD+ reporting requirements on reference emission level / reference levels of mangrove forests

New species-specific Minimum Diameter Limit Tables incorporated in Harvesting Code and endorsed by Ministry of Forestry, directly contributing to more sustainable management of forestry resources, reduced environmental impact due to logging and maintainance of species diversity (particularly for slow growing species)

Participatory Land Use Plan (women and youth) drafted for 2 Fijian communities (Levuka and Dogoru)

Sandalwood Management Strategy finalized submitted to Ministry of Forestry for endorsement

Situation Analysis completed for development of Fiji Organic Policy

Technology and knowledge transfer for development of patented Protein Bait Lure to facilitate compliance with BQA trade standards for the export of Fiji eggplant, papaya, breadfruit, mango and papaya to NZ and Australia

Three community agroforestry sites established (Vanuatu and Fiji x2). Objective to develop a sustainable produc-tion system resilient to perturbations (climate and market) involving women and youth and linked to buyers.

Value chain road map for virgin coconut oil production completed and endorsed by Steering Committee

Development of Fiji National Organic Policy supported

Third party certification to the Pacific Organic Standard adopted for use in export markets to USA for turmeric from Fiji

FSMRequirements for accessing organic markets and achieving organic certification workshop, Aug 2017

FRENCH POLYNESIAThird party certification to the Pacific Organic Standard adopted for use in export markets to USA for turmeric from Fiji and coconut oil from French Polynesia

KIRIBATI20 commercial farmers of the 2 Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) communities in Tarawa received open pollinated vegetable seeds and adopted new CSA practices, including saving seeds, water smart practices and the use of compost. 3 new climate smart varieties are now available to farmers on 3 islands in Kiribati.

20 commercial farmers of the 2 Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) communities received access to open pollinated vegetable seeds, saving seeds, water smart practices, use of compost

Supported to implement seed supply system




Developed and trialled four different compost recipe in 5 pilot sites (Tet Noth, Apemama, Nonouti, Beru, Apaianca) with at least 30 farmers now accessing new compost, creating their own compost and 10 are now using bucket irrigation.

MARSHALL ISLANDSMarshall Islands Organic Farmers Association received access to open pollinated vegetable seeds and training in new organic practices, saving seeds, water smart practices and the use of compost

Participated in IFOAM Organic World Congress in India


Participated in COP 24 SIDS side event

NAURUParticipation supported to the COCOTECH conference and exhibition.

NIUESupported to participate in the COCOTECH conference and exhibition.

Island Organic Farmers Association set up a Night Market and Organic Basket Scheme for organic produce with at least 10 participating local producers, including 5 young farmers

Supported for South-South cooperation training for coffee production and coconut products in Fiji

Participated in IFOAM Organic World Congress in India


Local producers utilizing four newly developed value chains for coffee, coconut oil, coconut products, organic fruit and vegetable baskets to develop their products and markets

PALAUSupported to participate in the COCOTECH conference and exhibition.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA16 participants (4 each from Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), took part in a study tour to Germany to learn about Forest and Climate, SFM and Value adding

Fine Food Expo Australia September 2018 support for attendance at showcase

SAMOADeveloped and tested an online mobile data collection system that improves the capacity of researchers (efficiency & effectiveness). Now being used by LRD and Ministry staff in current projects for CRB(G) site & clean-up assess-ments; and also cocoa tree phenology studies.



Procured green house materials for Soil Health Pacific in Samoa to enhance off season production of vegetables for the local market

Samoa Country Gender Assessment of Agriculture and Rural Development completed

Provided guidance on organic regulation



SOLOMON ISLANDS4 participants took part in a study tour to Germany to learn about Forest and Climate, SFM and Value adding

3 Biosecurity Officers of the Department of Biosecurity in Guadalchanal in Solomon Islands demonstrated improved confidence, knowledge and competency in the production of Metharizium fungus, an effective biological control for Coconut Rhinocerous Beetle - Guam strain (CRB-G), which is causing havoc to the Coconut and Palm industries in the Solomon Islands.

Supported to implement seed supply systems

Assessing and Improving the Quality of Copra Oil to Edible Standards, Solomon Islands December 2018 technical meeting



Developed and tested an online mobile data collection system that improves the capacity of researchers (efficiency & effectiveness). Now being used by LRD and Ministry staff in current projects for CRB(G) site & clean-up assess-ments; and also cocoa tree phenology studies.

Solomon Islands Country Gender Assessment of Agriculture and Rural Development completed

Updated Global Pest and Disease Database with new diseases in 2 islands (Guadalcanal, Malaita) post TC Pam and results accessible to the Pacific region for export market requests

Value chain road map for high value copra oil completed and endorsed by Steering Committee

First National REDD+ Committee meeting supported resulting in the committee and REDD+ unit better under-standing its role and responsibilities, roles of the REDD+ secretariat and how to better run committee meetings

TONGA2500 accessions of banana, sweet potato, pineapple and ginger made available to Tonga MAFF, with 500 banana seedlings evaluated and distributed to Hango Agricultural College for access by 6 villages in Eua Island

30 households, 4 schools and 2 womens’ groups in 2 islands received access to open pollinated vegetable seeds, increased their production and consumption of fruit and vegetables, and adopted new CSA practices, including saving Hawaiian paw paw seeds for first time

Supported to implement seed supply systems

8 MAFF officials and 1 youth representative and 1 representative from growers federation (4 female, 10 male and 4 youth) on tissue culture, seed production and pest and disease. Additionally, 10 MORDI (mainstreaming of rural development incorporated) staff (5 female, 5 female, 10 youth) were trained on tissue culture transfer, nursery and field management. MAFF official originally trained became a trainer and reported improved confidence and appli-cation of skills acquired during training.

As a result of systems to verify the legality of ownership through the Sandalwood regulation, communities in Tonga have reported increase in planting of sandalwood

Coconut seeds supply system designed for 7 countries

Newly established Seed Centre in Tonga promotes community resilience and food security with over 7kg of assort-ed seeds made available to 6 villages in Eua for rehabilitation post TC Gita

Tonga Country Gender Assessment of Agriculture and Rural Development completed



TUVALU80 sweet potato, 20 cassava and 100 swamp taro plants made accessible for use by Ministry of Agriculture, Tuvalu to build food security and climate resilience.

Supported participation in the COCOTECH conference and exhibition.

With support from LRD, Tuvalu conducted Import Risk Assessment (IRA) for potted horticultural plants from Fiji effectively identifying biosecurity risks and obtaining import permit from Tuvalu Biosecurity in preparation of the upcoming Pacific Leaders Forum Meeting in 2019 and hosted by Tuvalu

VANUATU130 small poultry farms established in Vanuatu in response to TC Pam

4 participants took part in a study tour to Germany to learn about Forest and Climate, SFM and Value adding

8 Biosecurity and Environment Officers of the Department of Biosecurity in Santo in Vanuatu showed improved confidence, knowledge and skills in plant pathology, pest & disease surveillance, field sample collection, laboratory techniques, detection and management as a result of LRD training and joint field surveillance conducted. As part of their training, the officers successfully intercepted a shipment of rotting potatoes and onions from New Zealand which was found to contain diseases.




Government of Vanuatu used the online Organic Policy Toolkit to develop and finalize the National Organic Policy.

Participatory Land Use Plan (women and youth) drafted and validated for Emae Island in Vanuatu

Three community agroforestry sites established (Vanuatu and Fiji x2). Objective to develop a sustainable produc-tion system resilient to perturbations (climate and market) involving women and youth and linked to buyers.

Updated Global Pest and Disease Database with new diseases in 5 islands (Aneityum, Tana, Santo, Penticost, Efate) post PC Pam and results accessible to the Pacific region for export market requests

Vanuatu Country Gender Assessment of Agriculture and Rural Development completed

Vanuatu MALFFB restructuring to establish a new unit for Extension Service delivery within the ministry, in response to review of extension services and National Extension Strategy


Supported participation in the IFOAM Organic World Congress

Established organic participatory guarantee system supporting organic certification for Tanna Coffee, Lapita Café Nasi Tuan and Napil training Centre.

WALLIS AND FUTUNASupported to host POETCom General Assembly

14 biosecurity, environment and agriculture officers from Wallis and Futuna government demonstrated improved knowledge and practical skills on the installation of Early Warning Systems (EWS) for detection of Coconut Rhi-nocerous Beetle - Guam strain(CRB-G) and exotic fruit flies. As part of their training the officers were able to map out and place these EWS in strategic locations on the 2 islands in Wallis and Futuna to monitor for exotic fruitfly incursions and CRB-G.


ANNEX 2 – LRD RESPONSE TO HOAFS MEETING 2017

Country comments from HOAFS 2017 (paragraph from meeting)

SPC Response

1. Papua New Guinea asked if SPC had developed an agri-culture matrix to show how LRD’s work addressed the “Sustain-able Development Goals 2030 Agenda”? In relation to the SDGs referred to by Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands said it had done this nationally. (13)

Theory of Change has been developed as part of the busi-ness plan which links SDGs, SPC goals and LRD goals.

2. Kiribati strongly supported the work by CePaCT and ef-forts to further improve.. Kiribati requested on behalf of atoll colleague countries that more projects be developed that assist them, and that components of other relevant projects such as work on coconuts, be located in atoll countries. (14)

Noted by LRD. Projects include: * Continuation of the ACIAR Improving soil health, agricul-tural productivity and food security on atolls * Soil management in Pacific Islands: investigating nutrient cycling and development of the Soils Portal * Building prosperity for women producers and women owned businesses through organic value chains * Proposed Integrated Program on Atoll Agriculture

3. Palau said the northern Pacific often missed out on as-sistance as some programmes did not cover the sub-region. Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Guam biotype (CRB-G) is a growing concern, and a bio-control measure was needed quickly, as this would benefit all countries in the region. Both Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia had passed bio-security frame-work laws, and assistance is needed to complete this work. (15)

* Pacific Coconut Rhinoceros Regional Strategic Plan 2018-2022 *Phytosanitary measures for coconut plantation manage-ment, and ensure supply and distribution of Metarhizium fungus * Awareness training amongst national biosecurity depart-ments * Extensive response with coordination and contribution to Vanuatu emergency response to incursion.

4. Tonga also noted the threat posed by CRB-G, as well as threats to other crops such as bananas and citrus, and noted that pest & disease management and biosecurity needs to be strongly supported. Tonga thanked partners such as Australia for their support of technical centres such as CePaCT, and wel-comed ongoing support. Tonga asked whether the Pacific is-lands Tree Seeds Centre and CePaCT were separate, or could be merged. Tonga had an interest in more agroforestry, including high value species, but needed more planting materials. SPC could look at examples elsewhere, such as Malaysia, which is mass producing planting materials using micro-propagation. (16)

* Tree Seeds Centre now within CePaCT * Restoration of breadfruit trees that had fallen over after TC Winston and trimming of all trees to minimise damage from any future cyclone * Enhanced fruit production and postharvest handling systems for Fiji, Samoa and Tonga * Hango Seed Centre established with support of Pacific Agriculture Policy Project and LRD * Distribution of seeds after TC Winston * Pacific Seeds for Life Integrated Program and on-going CePaCT distributions

5. Samoa echoed the views by Members regarding inva-sive pests and diseases, particularly CRB-G. They estimated that about 60% of coconut plantations need replanting, but that this cannot be done without a better integrated pest manage-ment system for CRB-G. The work of CePaCT was useful but a duplicate genetic resources facility was needed elsewhere, as a backup to Fiji. The research for development work could link to agricultural statistics being collated by LRD. This could be shared with Members to assist with design and policy analysis. Apart from countries such as Papua New Guinea, some Mem-bers had difficulty carrying out good quality research and anal-ysis as the data was not collected in the best way. (17)

* Regional strategic plan on CRB-G * Strengthened active PPPO * Scoping study on the creation of a SPS Pacific Regional Platform for PICTs * Major funding via EDF11 PRISE program for biosecurity * Proposed positions in LRD for economist and statistician, and development of the Pacific Landscape Management Support Facility (PLMSF) to support inventory and landuse planning.



SPC Response

6. Samoa encouraged LRD to consult with member countries early and on continuous basis so that they could make a more complete contribution. (18)

* . The Director of LRD carried out a number of visits in the Pacific Region, including the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) and Samoa to triangulate information on proposed activities and to seek feedback on the general direction of the business plan.

* Meeting with countries in the sidelines of the FAO Re-gional Conference

* Close alignment with the Pacific Multi-Country Program-ming Framework (CPF) which guides FAO partnership and support with the Governments of Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu - bringing

national and regional expertise during five years from 2018 to 2022.

* Pilot process of SPC country programming in Melanesian countries

7. French Polynesia welcomed the comprehensive presenta-tion on the extensive work done by LRD, and the information presented for Members to consider in developing their agricul-tural sector. They supported Samoa’s call for regular consulta-tion and noted that the Special Session was a short meeting, and looked forward to a more extensive meeting. The coconut issue raised by others was also a priority for French Polynesia. Regarding POETCom as the vehicle for advancing organic ag-riculture in the Pacific, French Polynesia questioned whether its current institutional structure was appropriate because it is an NGO. (19)

* More extensive agenda in the current PWA 2019 HOAFS meeting * Resources continue to be directed to coconut plantation renewal via the Coconut Industry Development for the Pacific * CIDP has made 43 relevant training materials and pro-grammes available through a central portal hosted by the Pacific Island Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) * Proposed new program on coconut conservation through ACIAR

* ITC Coconut Commodity Value Chain (Pacific Component of ACP)

* HOAFS 2012 endorsed the housing of POETCom in LRD and to delegate management of the Pacific Organ-ic Standard to the POETCom. At this stage it is deemed appropriate that the relationship continues. POETCom and the Organic Guarantee System will be undergoing a review and strengthening process with the support of the EDF 11 programmes, both ACP and OCT, during 2020-2022 which will help clarify if the status of POETCom or the manage-ment of the POS needs to change in the future.

8. The Federated States of Micronesia said development part-ners should be asked to establish an emergency response fund for the North, to address the damage from CRB-G. While fund-ing was problematic, collective action was critical to address the problem. (20)

* Coordination of regional response by SPC has demon-strated real benefit in the case of most recent incursion into Vanuatu

9. Tokelau echoed the views of other small island states and noted that atoll agriculture was very different to the larger volcanic countries and requested SPC’s assistance in securing funding for more projects in the atolls. (21)

* Note the proposal for an on-going focus on atoll agricul-ture and food security.



SPC Response

10. Solomon Islands said it had accepted a call by SPC to share the genetic resources of commercial trees. Cabinet had endorsed a material transfer agreement (MTA), and was wait-ing for SPC to advise who else might be interested in MTA, as Solomon Islands currently had eight timber species to share. It was important to consider where gene conservation orchards could be located to ensure protection of backup resources. (22)

* SPC has signed MTAs with the following countries: Van-uatu, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands.

* SPC’s role is to facilitate the safe and efficient exchange and utilisation of FGR between our member countries, when requests come from the countries.

11. The Republic of the Marshall Islands echoed the comments of Paulau and FSM and noted the work of the Pacific Agricul-ture Policy Program and the biosecurity program. It asked if the LRD could increase staff in the SPC office in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia to better support the northern Pacific and reduce travel costs. SPC was asked to speed up research on a bio-control for the coconut beetle (CRB-G). With livestock, SPC was requested to provide pilot training on how to collect sam-ples for analysis to diagnose zoonotic disease outbreaks. Send-ing out the samples for analysis is an ongoing problem.(23)

* Noted by LRD.

* Funding for training on sample collection is included as an activity in EDF11 PRISE program* * Proposal for on-go-ing LRD staff position to better focus efforts in the North-ern PICTs.

* LRD is currently working on a One Health approach joint-ly with other SPC divisions to better respond to environ-mental, human and animal health issues including zoonot-ic diseases. In addition, under the EDF11, LRD is proposing to strengthen its capacity in SPS to support both plant and animal disease diagnosis.

12. Fiji wished to further its partnership with LRD on the work carried out in recent years. There had been success stories and challenges in the implementation of these projects. The Fiji gov-ernment had priorities in a number of areas. For example, Fiji had an emphasis on climate change especially with Fiji’s pres-idency of COP23. There were many projects after COP23 which Fiji would like to progress, such as food security, engagement of youth and sustainable resource management. Fiji supported the full involvement of stakeholders in the implementation of projects.(24)

* On-going work on Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA) coming from COP23under the Paris Agreement to strengthen the capacity of countries to meet the KJWA requirements through scientific and technical inputs for countries’ submission scheduled for March 2020

* On-going focus on better inclusion of women and youth.

* LRD has supported the establishment of the Fiji Agri-cultural Advisory Services Network (FAAS), a network of agricultural extension and advisory services to respond effectively to climate change, livelihoods and food and nutrition security.

* Numerous other partnerships including with forest landscape restoration, community land use planning, open pollinated crop breeding and training and plant health monitoring and research.

13. Tuvalu noted the views expressed by Kiribati regarding the perception of bias in country selection, and said that it might be useful with some projects to separate out the volcanic islands from atoll islands. Tuvalu thanked CePaCT for their assistance with the provision of tissue cultures, particularly swamp taro. While CePaCT was seeking feedback on the tissue cultures, it would take a few years to get a better more complete picture from the field. (25)

* LRD notes the comment and continues to promote pro-grams and initiatives that have wide regional benefits and addition to attending to country programming priorities.

* The new DFAT funding for Tuvalu (discussed above) will focus on the unique challenges facing atoll agriculture through promotion of atoll agriculture technologies such as wicking system, food futures to support livelihoods and food security through research and value chain support.



SPC Response

14. Vanuatu had a replanting programme for coconut planta-tions, based on a coconut strategy and requested SPC support with biosecurity to control the entry of CRB-G into Vanuatu and further work on processing old coconut trees for sawn timber or veneer and phytosanitation practices for plantations. Vanuatu lacked the infrastructure in terms of laboratories to assist the research institution to multiply planting materials for farmers. Vanuatu noted the work by PIRAS in developing a regional ex-tension strategy, and also thanked SPC for assisting with a draft extension policy (Pacific Islands Extension Strategy). Vanuatu requested a copy of the regional strategy to align this with the national extension strategy.(26)

* Support with CRB is on-going with significant input from LRD Plant Health team on coordination of response. * LRD continues to act as the secretariat for PIRAS, opera-tionalising the PIES.

* LRD contributed to the Vanuatu national extension strat-egy development with initial consultation and validation workshop. Strategy finalised June 2019.

15. Australia welcomed the reflections by Members on the out-puts and their observations on going forward. The meeting was a good opportunity to hear from SPC and Members. Australia noted the importance of receiving information early and regu-larly. It was useful to come together on a regular basis, so that Members could share their views. (27)

* ICKM strategy and improved web communications a priority for LRD * Proposal for developing the PWA concept will increase the likelihood of regular HOAFS meetings * LRD notes the frequent project level interactions be-tween member countries and LRD staff that assist in achieving alignment of priorities. * PAPP Policy bank has assisted in increased awareness of country policies and priorities.

16. The Chair said LRD recognised the need to evolve and re-spond to the needs of Members. The first step was in the right direction and rather than business as usual, a new process was required.(28)

* Follow-up by LRD with Business Plan signals a very differ-ent mode of operation for LRD going forward.


ANNEX 3 – FINANCIAL SUMMARYJan-June 2019

Projects Core funding TOTAL

Pillar 1 134,293 136,669 270,962

Pillar 2 903,410 62,465 965,875

Pillar 3 638,362 49,396 687,758

Pillar 4 775,143 38,415 813,558

Directorate 189,424 375,544 564,968

2,640,631 662,489 3,303,120

Jan - Dec 2018

Projects Core funding TOTAL

Pillar 1 401,013 113,503.14 514,516

Pillar 2 291,080 145,444.67 436,525

Pillar 3 1,137,107 260,947.33 1,398,055

Pillar 4 1,647,986 44,763.12 1,692,749

Directorate 1,114,967 756,429.62 1,871,397

4,592,153 1,321,088 5,913,241


ANNEX 4 THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY

LAND RESOURCES DIVISION

SPECIAL SESSIONof the

Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HOAFS)

and first joint

FAO and SPC Pacific Ministers of Agriculture and

Forestry Services (MOAFS)

MEETING OUTCOMES & MINISTERIAL COMMUNIQUÉ

Iririki Island Resort, Port Vila19-20 October 2017


PWA Summary

The Government of Vanuatu in collaboration with the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Food and Agricul-ture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations hosted the first weeklong Pacific Week of Agriculture (PWA) in Port Vila, Vanuatu from 16 – 20 October 2017. The PWA focussed on Culture, Resilience, Opportunities, Products and Sustainability (CROPS), which originat-ed following a technical exchange at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture in 2014, attended by Agriculture officials from the Pacific with the support of the Intra ACP EU Pacific Agriculture Policy Project (PAPP). Themed parallel sessions took place at the Vanu-atu convention centre as part of the three days side events, emphasising inclusion of women and youth. Day one began with the Vanuatu Agri tourism festival, Vanuatu Agri tourism farmers training and regional agro tourism challenges. Day 2 included sessions on Pacific Women in Agriculture, Youth entrepreneurship in the Pacific, Young farmers’ knowledge exchange, Pacific women in agriculture and research, and the role of farmer organisations in climate change adap-tation. Day 3 entailed sessions on linking farmers to Agrifood markets, regional strategies for research, the FAO Global Action Programme on Food and Nutrition Security in Small Islands developing States (GAP SIDS), concluding with a preliminary Heads of Agriculture & Forestry Meeting. Participants attending these sched-uled side events were a mix of farmers, private sector, farmer organisations, research partners, development partners and government representatives.

The Special Session of the Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HOAFS), organised by the Pacific Community – Land Resources Division, met on Iririki Island Resort on Thursday 19 October. The conven-tion aimed to (1) Re-energise engagement and part-nerships with stakeholders; (2) Share information on progress and results of recent and current action and (3) establish and highlight new initiatives and emerg-ing partnerships. The HOAFS meeting was chaired by the host country, Acting DG MALFFB, attended by representatives from Australia, Cook Islands, Federat-ed States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solo-mon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The meeting was given an update on SPC Land Resources Division activities since the previous meeting in 2012, and proposed changes to the structure and a draft business plan. The meeting requested the opportuni-ty for further input to the business plan to ensure its alignment with member States’ priorities. The Hon. Minister of MALFFB, Mr Matai Seremaiah Nawalu, officially opened the first joint FAO SPC Pacif-ic Agriculture Ministers Meeting, held on 20 October. The FAO segment commented on the Pacific imple-mentation of the Regional GAP SIDS, in preparation of the 34th session of the FAO Asia Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) in April 2018 and endorsed the Pacific Multi Country Programming Framework. During the SPC segment of the Ministers’ meeting, the Ministers encouraged joint programming by SPC and FAO where possible and noted the outcomes of the HoAFS meeting, including the structural reforms of LRD. It was agreed to establish a working group to support SPC LRD in finalizing its business plan.


MEETING OUTCOMES

1. The Special Session of the Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services (HOAFS) met at the Iririki Island Resort in Port Vila, Vanuatu on 19 October 2017. The meeting was attended by represen-tatives from Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Observers from international and regional organisations, public and private sector bodies were also present (Annex 3).

2. The meeting was held in association with the in-augural Pacific Week of Agriculture, organised by the Vanuatu Government, the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Special Session of HOAFS aimed to re-energise the engagement with stakeholders, share information on prog-ress, and highlight new initiatives and emerging partnerships. Benjamin Shing as ADG of MALFFB Vanuatu chaired the meeting (see 6).

Opening

3. The Deputy Director General of SPC, Dr Audrey Aumua, SPC, welcomed the participants and thanked the Government of Vanuatu for hosting the Pacific Week of Agriculture, and the HOAFS and the Pacific Ministers of Agriculture and For-estry meetings. Many issues facing the region are inter-linked and likely to be exacerbated due to climate change. Since the last meeting in 2012, much work had taken place. This meeting would help SPC and its partners to shape the LRD work programme for the benefit of its Members. This was also an opportunity for Members to guide SPC in refining its priorities.

4. The Hon. Matai Seremaiah Nawalu, Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Bi-osecurity for Vanuatu delivered the keynote ad-dress. Vanuatu had showcased agricultural crops in the Pacific Week of Agriculture displays, which touched on the themes of the meeting, such as culture, sustainability and resilience.

5. The Minister said the challenges for agriculture included low levels of investment in the region, with an average of 3% of national budgets set aside for agriculture. Better data and information was needed for evidence-based decision making. Science and technology have shown potential, but there is still a threat to food security, reduced exports, and poor nutrition. Population growth rates will increase the demand for food. The po-tential for conflicts will increase with demand for land, and rising populations. The most vulnerable are likely to suffer most. Climate change adds an-other level of complexity, along with pests and diseases. The agriculture sector had a role to play in helping Members to achieve their sustainable development goals. The need now is for sustain-able partnerships that care for all people along the value chain. The HOAFS meeting is a premier avenue to discuss key issues for agriculture, on behalf of Pacific people.

6. Following the Minister’s opening address, Solo-mon Islands deferred from taking the Chair, and offered the role to Vanuatu to acknowledge the role of Vanuatu in hosting the first PWA. Vanuatu acknowledged Solomon Islands’ offer and ac-cepted the Chair.

7. On a motion by Papua New Guinea, seconded by Australia, the meeting adopted the agenda.

Session 1 – Plenary

8. SPC introduced the LRD Director’s Progress Re-port (Working Paper 1.1, ANNEX 1) and Business Plan (Working Paper 1.2, ANNEX 2), which high-lighted LRD’s reorganization and new structure since the last HOAFS meeting in 2012. This work was placed in the context of SPC’s work pro-gramme, and the priorities for Members.


Director’s Progress Report

9. The Director’s Progress Report – Part A, (ANNEX 1) included LRD responses to recommendations from the 2012 HOAFS meeting and outlined changes since that meeting. In 2015 the SPC launched a strategic business plan, and an inter-nal Performance Improvement Review (PIR) set the scene for change.

10. The Director highlighted achievements of LRD from 2012-2017 (detailed in Part B of Working Paper 1.1,ANNEX 1), noting in particular work in the areas of promotion of food security and tradi-tional food; recognition of traditional knowledge; increased engagement of youth and women; re-duced impact on climate change; good health and environment conservation; enhanced bio-security regulation; zoonotic diseases that account for the majority of epidemics; launch of the Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services (PIRAS); forest and sustainable land management, and scaling up and policy enhancement. LRD is also strengthening technical and scientific knowl-edge in genetic resources, with the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT) helping to im-prove access to genetic resources.

11. The LRD Director raised a series of questions for countries to consider which would enable the discussions for the meeting. These questions related to: i) How LRD manages consultation processes with its members; ii) Ensuring not just activities but robust impact pathways; iii) Op-timizing the balance between LRD as a project manager and its in-house scientific work; iv) How LRD could reach out more, and work to scale; v) Exploring better ways to use information, com-munications and knowledge management; vi) Deepening strategic partnerships in research and development, and vii) Responding more ef-fectively to emerging threats.

12. Using business planning as a vehicle, LRD was seeking to improve its effectiveness, efficiencies and sustainability through increased genuine partnerships and improved coordination. LRD proposes to structure its work with Members by organising around four themes (or pillars) as de-tailed in the draft Business Plan in ANNEX 2.

Discussion

All members thanked LRD for the very informative presentation and proceeded to make the following comments:

13. Papua New Guinea asked if SPC had developed an agriculture matrix to show how LRD’s work addressed the “Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda”? In relation to the SDGs referred to by Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands said it had done this nationally.

14. Kiribati strongly supported the work by CePaCT and efforts to further improve.. Kiribati requested on behalf of atoll colleague countries that more projects be developed that assist them, and that components of other relevant projects such as work on coconuts, be located in atoll countries.

15. Palau said the northern Pacific often missed out on assistance as some programmes did not cov-er the sub-region. Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Guam biotype (CRB-G) is a growing concern, and a bio-control measure was needed quickly, as this would benefit all countries in the region. Both Palau and the Federated States of Microne-sia had passed bio-security framework laws, and assistance is needed to complete this work.

16. Tonga also noted the threat posed by CRB-G, as well as threats to other crops such as bananas and citrus, and noted that pest & disease man-agement and biosecurity needs to be strong-ly supported. Tonga thanked partners such as Australia for their support of technical centres such as CePaCT, and welcomed ongoing sup-port. Tonga asked whether the Pacific islands Tree Seeds Centre and CePaCT were separate, or could be merged. Tonga had an interest in more agroforestry, including high value species, but needed more planting materials. SPC could look at examples elsewhere, such as Malaysia, which is mass producing planting materials using mi-cro-propagation.


17. Samoa echoed the views by Members regarding invasive pests and diseases, particularly CRB-G. They estimated that about 60% of coconut plan-tations need replanting, but that this cannot be done without a better integrated pest manage-ment system for CRB-G. The work of CePaCT was useful but a duplicate genetic resources facility was needed elsewhere, as a backup to Fiji. The research for development work could link to ag-ricultural statistics being collated by LRD. This could be shared with Members to assist with design and policy analysis. Apart from countries such as Papua New Guinea, some Members had difficulty carrying out good quality research and analysis as the data was not collected in the best way.

18. Samoa encouraged LRD to consult with member countries early and on continuous basis so that they could make a more complete contribution.

19. French Polynesia welcomed the comprehensive presentation on the extensive work done by LRD, and the information presented for Members to consider in developing their agricultural sector. They supported Samoa’s call for regular consul-tation and noted that the Special Session was a short meeting, and looked forward to a more extensive meeting. The coconut issue raised by others was also a priority for French Polynesia. Regarding POETCom as the vehicle for advanc-ing organic agriculture in the Pacific, French Poly-nesia questioned whether its current institutional structure was appropriate because it is an NGO.

20. The Federated States of Micronesia said devel-opment partners should be asked to establish an emergency response fund for the North, to address the damage from CRB-G. While funding was problematic, collective action was critical to address the problem.

21. Tokelau echoed the views of other small island states and noted that atoll agriculture was very different to the larger volcanic countries and re-quested SPC’s assistance in securing funding for more projects in the atolls.

22. Solomon Islands said it had accepted a call by SPC to share the genetic resources of commer-cial trees. Cabinet had endorsed a material trans-fer agreement (MTA), and was waiting for SPC to advise who else might be interested in MTA, as Solomon Islands currently had eight timber spe-cies to share. It was important to consider where gene conservation orchards could be located to ensure protection of backup resources.

23. The Republic of the Marshall Islands echoed the comments of Paulau and FSM and noted the work of the Pacific Agriculture Policy Program and the biosecurity program. It asked if the LRD could increase staff in the SPC office in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia to better support the northern Pacific and reduce travel costs. SPC was asked to speed up research on a bio-control for the coconut beetle (CRB-G). With livestock, SPC was requested to provide pilot training on how to collect samples for analysis to diagnose zoonotic disease outbreaks. Sending out the samples for analysis is an ongoing problem.

24. Fiji wished to further its partnership with LRD on the work carried out in recent years. There had been success stories and challenges in the imple-mentation of these projects. The Fiji government had priorities in a number of areas. For example, Fiji had an emphasis on climate change espe-cially with Fiji’s presidency of COP23. There were many projects after COP23 which Fiji would like to progress, such as food security, engagement of youth and sustainable resource management. Fiji supported the full involvement of stakehold-ers in the implementation of projects.

25. Tuvalu noted the views expressed by Kiribati re-garding the perception of bias in country selec-tion, and said that it might be useful with some projects to separate out the volcanic islands from atoll islands. Tuvalu thanked CePaCT for their as-sistance with the provision of tissue cultures, par-ticularly swamp taro. While CePaCT was seeking feedback on the tissue cultures, it would take a few years to get a better more complete picture from the field.

26. Vanuatu had a replanting programme for coco-nut plantations, based on a coconut strategy and requested SPC support with biosecurity to con-


trol the entry of CRB-G into Vanuatu and further work on processing old coconut trees for sawn timber or veneer and phytosanitation practices for plantations. Vanuatu lacked the infrastructure in terms of laboratories to assist the research in-stitution to multiply planting materials for farm-ers. Vanuatu noted the work by PIRAS in devel-oping a regional extension strategy, and also thanked SPC for assisting with a draft extension policy (Pacific Islands Extension Strategy). Vanu-atu requested a copy of the regional strategy to align this with the national extension strategy.

27. Australia welcomed the reflections by Members on the outputs and their observations on going forward. The meeting was a good opportunity to hear from SPC and Members. Australia noted the importance of receiving information early and regularly. It was useful to come together on a regular basis, so that Members could share their views.

28. The Chair said LRD recognised the need to evolve and respond to the needs of Members. The first step was in the right direction and rather than business as usual, a new process was required.

29. The LRD Director noted the comments from Members, including the need to provide papers on time, and for more consultation. The new structure was the first step in re-engaging since the last HOAFS in 2012. He responded to a few key issues raised. Regarding the suggestion to develop separate programmes for volcanic is-lands and the smaller atolls, he noted the work on atoll agriculture and soil by LRD’s Soil Scientist (Dr Siosiua Halavatau). The points regarding the threats to crops such as bananas, coconuts and citrus were noted, although a broader platform was needed to account for other pests and dis-eases, as well as a coordinated mechanism to ad-dress them. On the work of CePaCT, an audit by the Global Trust proposed integrating the work of the Pacific Islands Tree Seed Centre, and this was being explored. On the call for establishing backup facilities in other countries of the genetic resources held in Fiji, there were options avail-able, and Members could provide guidance on how to do this. Other issues raised by Members during the discussion could be covered at a bi-lateral level.

Looking at the future

30. The LRD Director presented on the 2015 Per-formance Improvement Review (PIR) used to realign the work of LRD and the proposed LRD Business Plan.

31. The proposed LRD Business Plan 2017-2020 has reorganized LRD’s seven technical teams into four strategic pillars – genetic resources; sustain-able forests and land management; sustainable agriculture for food and nutritional security, and markets for livelihoods value chains.

32. The Chair noted that Members will be consult-ed on LRD’s proposed realignment and be given time to provide feedback.

33. Development partners were invited to make brief comments. The CTA representative wel-comed the presentation by the LRD Director as an excellent framework for CTA to identify areas where it could work with SPC to respond to the priorities of Members, including in areas such as agri-preneurship and agri-tourism.

Session 2: Tok Tok Partnership Cafés

34. Group sessions (Tok Tok Partnership Cafes) were held based on the four LRD pillars:- Genetic resources; - Sustainable forests and land management; - Sustainable agriculture for food and nutri-

tional security, and - Markets for livelihoods value chains. Tok Tok

Café 1 Highlights:

35. The group sessions enabled Members to discuss issues in detail with senior LRD staff and provide feedback on improving service delivery, align-ing work with the priorities of Members, more effective engagement with Members, stronger partnerships and cooperation at the national and regional levels, better use of resources, and integration with other development assistance frameworks.


36. The meeting continued with each of the groups reporting back. The group summaries are at-tached as ANNEX 4.

37. Tok Tok Café 1 Highlights: The Genetic Re-sources Pillar covered a range of key topics with all four groups, of which the common themes were around capacity building of na-tional GR capabilities in particular key areas such as genebank and nursery development; mass propagation protocol; crops develop-ment, evaluation and selection protocols as well as on pests and diseases testing and elimination protocols. A need to understand MTAs and the legal conventions involved was also raised by a few HOAFS, particularly where indigenous food crops are concerned. Atoll country reps also repeated their request for LRD in this area, to detail in particular those materials for tagging as of relevance to atoll islands so that that information and knowl-edge can be easily accessed by countries should they wish, and for CePaCT to tailor atoll-specific programmes for their benefit.

38. Tok Tok Café 2 Highlights: Pillar 2 reflected on the Heads of Forestry side meetings ear-lier during the PWA to consider the project works of GIZ and APFNet (Asia-Pacific Net-work for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation), and their support for the re-spective initiatives covered by these projects. Across the many issues raised by the HOAFS during the session, key were the issues around agroforestry systems research and assessment, small islands agroforestry system model development, cocowood processing opportunities, and interest in the Regional Tree Seeds Programme and seed collection and germplasm multiplication of high value trees. There was strong support for a project proposal on landscape approaches to refor-estation that will accelerate integration of the forestry sectors into country NDCs (national-ly determined contributions) of greenhouse gas accounts. HOAFS members also ac-knowledged the work on the chain of custo-dy approaches used for Sandalwood in Tonga and encouraged other countries to consider similar systems.

39. Tok Tok Café 3 Highlights: sustainable agri-culture for food and nutritional security. Cur-rent priorities were well regarded by members. Other priorities included livestock feed and waste management and reducing reliance on imported livestock feed sources. The group also noted the need to better secure nutrition for growing populations, particularly through local crop production to reduce food importation.. Members called for better linkages to school education programs to influence diets of chil-dren and youth. Members called for mobiliza-tion of resources to tackle the threat of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB-G). Finally members of atoll PICTs called for more strengthening and promotion of the SPC-supported atoll agricul-ture system.

40. Tok Tok Café 4 Highlights: The discussions in Pillar 4 generated dialogue focused largely on markets related investments, feasibility studies, standards for compliance around biosecuri-ty and CODEX. Also discussed were consider-ations for niche markets, emerging opportuni-ties such as agri-preneurship and agri-tourism for women, youth, and people with special needs. On organics, discussion covered the PGS systems and governance around POETCom and members. Comments from HOAFS also gave thought to the important consideration of the assurance of food security and climate resilience while market opportunities are being looked at.

Preliminary session summary

41. A discussion on policy developments had oc-curred at the preliminary HOAFS session the previous day (Wednesday 19 October, Nation-al Convention Centre). This was attended by 13 country representatives, plus donors and partners. A number of strategies and plans had been developed under the auspices of various specialist meetings and were tabled for en-dorsement by HOAFS. These were:

a. P-SPAFS (Pacific Strategic Plan For Agricultural And Fisheries Statistics: strengthening the evi-dence base for sustainable livelihoods)

b. The Pacific Islands Extension Strategy (PIES), developed by the Board of the Pacific Islands Rural Advisory Services network (PIRAS)

c. Youth in Agriculture strategy (revised)d. Pacific Regional Pesticide Registration Scheme

(PRPRS)e. Agreement to share information (the ‘Com-

pact’)f. Agriculture planners’ forum proposal.


42. Feedback from HOAFS members noted that the strategies and plans have been discussed by senior ministry staff, who have contributed to the drafting of these documents and that strategies are necessarily ‘living’ documents, which may be further refined. They endorsed the strategies and encouraged members to confirm the direction of the strategies via their internal processes, and seek Ministerial endorsement.

43. Further they requested that SPC re-consider the possibility of a regional biometric unit to test the quality of the research design, data collection, data cleaning and analysis that are being generated.

44. HOAFS members confirmed the urgency of establishing a Pacific Regional Pesticide Reg-istration Scheme (PRPRS), particularly noting the need for such a unit within SPC to under-take region-wide assessments and to supply capacity building and training to member countries and clarified that the PRPRS will not include agricultural inputs such as fertilisers at this stage.

Session 3: Open dialogue session

Governance & Communication

45. The Chair noted that the governance structure of LRD should be one of the items for discussion at the next HOAFS meeting.

46. In order to be more efficient and to work more closely with Members, the meeting called for a strong cohesive LRD structure that meets regu-larly and communicates its work collectively, not programmatically via the four pillars. Given the importance of discussing processes at the next HOAFS, SPC needs to translate all meeting pa-pers and send them out early to allow Members to prepare their positions and encourage more discussion. LRD should therefore consider its cur-rent outreach and awareness and communica-tions efforts with Members.

47. Australia said its government has stepped up its engagement in the region with more than AUD $1 billion in assistance, including AUD $16 mil-lion for agriculture, fisheries and water. Australia wanted to see improved coordination and col-laboration, and a focus on strategic partnerships. The work on genetic resources was a good build-ing block, with work needed to strengthen this space.

48. Both the SPC presentations were a step forward and Australia supported their implementation. As with French Polynesia, Australia wanted a fo-cus on core governance and better opportuni-ties for Members to provide feedback, and more accountability in the agriculture and forestry work. SPC could help to improve the coordina-tion and collaboration between governments and donors. Australia noted the threats posed by climate change to priorities such as food security.

49. Australia welcomed the collaborative approach by SPC and FAO, and hoped to see this gather pace in future including joint programming. Strategic partnerships are fundamental and were built on coordination and collaboration. Australia also noted that it is working closely to support the R4D agenda. A number of Australian institu-tions worked in the region, and there was room to step up its support to facilitate strategic part-nerships. In recognizing a number of proposals coming forward, these were seen as exciting op-portunities. The work on genetic resources could also be strengthened to help build resilience and improve food security. Australia hoped that SPC, in consultation with others, could deliver on these goals.

50. Tonga supported the comments about strategic partnerships, emphasizing the need for prioriti-zation of the research agenda to ensure activities were effective. Special attention was needed for the smaller island countries.


51. The Chair invited the Deputy Director General of SPC to respond. The DDG said it was important to hear the comments from Members, and these would be taken on board. In re-connecting with Members since the last HOAFS, the presentations had been made in the spirit of consultation. The DDG acknowledged that timing and the flow of information had not been the best, and such feedback was valuable. SPC belonged to the re-gion and its Members, so the contributions were welcome. Internally, SPC is prioritizing its work, to ensure it had a real impact. SPC could not do everything, and in allocating limited resources, it needed to share these issues with Members, and receive guidance from them. This meeting was not a one-off engagement, and LRD was keen to keep this dialogue alive and open. The option of using taskforces to help reshape LRD was anoth-er opportunity for Members to provide feedback.

52. The Chair noted that during the group sessions, some presentations outlined the number of countries covered by projects, but not the split of resources to Members in those projects. A bias in selection of countries could also extend to a bias in the expenditure on countries, and while the Chair supported regionalism this should not be at the expense of the parts. He noted the per-ception by small island states of a bias, and said projects should be delivered to those most in need and in the most equitable manner. It was important for LRD to focus on projects regionally, and not on one or two countries. The Chair not-ed that some development partners appeared to use regional institutions as PMUs (project man-agement units), whereas LRD and the science community should be serving Members and not the agendas of those providing the funds.

53. The Chair said if red tape was not conducive to delivering assistance, the impact on the ground would be small. It was important to not just look at the outputs, but to pursue the maximum im-pact in the lives of Pacific people. Vanuatu sup-ported the work to realign LRD. SPC was asked to send out the strategic plan and business plan to Members for comments by June 2018, so that a document could be finalised next July for the work plan.

54. In light of the meeting’s overall comments about governance and the need for consultative pro-cesses, the Chair recommended a special com-mittee be formed to look at the comments, and integrate them into the business plan where appropriate. This paper should be prepared by mid-2018 and then put forward for the 6th HOAFS (2019) to help set some direction for LRD. The priorities for atoll Members should also be high-lighted.

Other matters

55. Tonga re-iterated its support for the Pacific re-gional pesticides management scheme dis-cussed in paragraph 44.

56. Palau noted recent studies highlighting the large volume of food lost or wasted, and asked if SPC to commission a study on food loss on crop dam-age. Palau also suggested looking into food irra-diation as a way to combat post-harvest losses, and to reduce foodborne illness.

Next meeting

57. On behalf of the meeting, Samoa acknowledged with appreciation the stewardship of the Chair, as well as the excellent arrangements by SPC, and the valuable contributions by Members, do-nors and development partners.

58. The meeting warmly welcomed the offer by Sa-moa to host the next HOAFS meeting in 2019.

59. The Chair thanked the participants for their sup-port and valuable contributions, and declared the meeting closed.

land resources division (lrd) biannual report

Documents