ACIAR's position in the Pacific islands will continue to develop in line with broader Australian development assistance priorities. There is an increasing awareness of the importance of changing economic and environmental situations, and the vulnerability of small developing island states if flexibility and adaptation to change are not achieved. The Pacific islands countries have a range of challenges including eroding tariff preferences, population and urban growth, migration of skilled labour, resource depletion and degradation, and risks from climate change. As described in Pacific 2020-challenges and opportunities for growth , ineffective policy implementation is seen as a significant impediment to development and progress.
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries sustain many households and will comprise the majority of livelihoods of Pacific islands countries for the foreseeable future. Many smallholders live in isolated rural communities dependent on household food production and intermittent crop, fish and small livestock sales. Improving and transforming these systems into sustainable income-generating activities through improved productivity and marketing will enhance self-reliance and reduce poverty over time, as will diversification into new activities.
The development of an agriculture-enabling environment is an ongoing objective. Participation in regional projects that address common problems, where appropriate, will help overcome the limited capacity of many countries to engage in collaborative activities. ACIAR has a strong emphasis on working with Pacific regional organisations to improve effective delivery of outputs. In partnership with the University of the South Pacific, ACIAR will implement a scholarships program designed to increase capacity in the region through the allocation of Postgraduate Diploma and Masters Degree scholarships for research associated with ACIAR projects in the Pacific.
AusAID's Pacific Regional Aid Strategy 2004-09 identifies four key themes: stronger broad-based growth; more effective, accountable and democratic government; improved law, justice and security; and enhanced service delivery. These themes are further underlined in the Pacific 2020 report with a commitment to address governance and institutions, infrastructure, regional cooperation and implementation of programs.
ACIAR's Pacific program, through its three research emphases (increased productivity and diversification through new crops, products and value-adding; development of sustainable management systems; underpinning of systems development, economics, marketing and biosecurity), contributes to these objectives primarily in the thematic area of broad-based economic growth. In fisheries, ACIAR will work in cooperation with AusAID's new Pacific fisheries strategy developed in 2007.
Samoa has recently had comparatively strong economic growth across a range of sectors, including agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has several research stations and experimental farms. Samoa is also the agriculture base of the University of the South Pacific, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Subregional Program and the South Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP). There has been a strong emphasis in the ACIAR program on insect pest management (fruit flies, fruit piercing moth, whitefly and aphids), virus indexing of taro as well as biological control of pests and weeds. Projects undertaken have studied forest nutrition and health as well as fisheries. Samoa has expertise in germplasm selection of root crops and fruits and in techniques of tissue culture propagation.
Research opportunities include those that underpin the development of exports of high-value horticultural products. This may require postharvest research to improve shelf life and transport to boost fruit exports and simple processing/value-addition of fruit tree and root crops. Research to assist improvements in niche marketing of commodities, potentially including organic produce, is of importance. This may include identification of alternative extension and information transfer technologies.
In forestry, research opportunities may exist in the following areas: policy incentives for establishment of woodlots; nursery management techniques; forest weeds, pests and diseases; and better utilisation of timbers. Increasing wood yields from sawmilling is a high priority as there is currently significant wastage. In fisheries, opportunities may include research on community-based approaches to the management of reef fisheries and technical interventions to underpin the development of village aquaculture industries.