22nd July 2016 A series of significant events took place in the Kingdom of Tonga this week supported by the Pacific Community (SPC)’s European Union (EU) Intra-ACP Pacific Agriculture Policy Project (PAPP) in partnership with the Government of Tonga through its Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFFF).
On Monday 18 July, an awareness workshop on agricultural policy, research and extension was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga, Honourable Siaosi Sovaleni. The workshop objectives included forming more effective linkages between MAFFF, other key sectors in which the Government operates, the private sector, non-government organisations (NGOs), civil society and members of Tonga’s media fraternity.
In his capacity as the Minister overseeing communications and information, Honourable Sovaleni stated that, “I was particularly pleased to see that one of the objectives was to strengthen links between the Agriculture sector and other sectors but also to take a collaborative approach involving stakeholders from the private sector and especially media to collectively address developmental issues faced by all Pacific islands, of which Tonga is no exception.”
Honourable Sovaleni also acknowledged the partnership between SPC and the Government of Tonga and commended the Pacific Community on the recent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) summit hosted in Tonga as well as the launch of its publication on the vulnerability of Pacific Agriculture and Forestry to Climate Change. These initiatives highlighted the very close correlation between the Agriculture sector and broad development challenges faced by Tonga and other Pacific islands.
‘Ana Tupou Panuve, an analyst at the National Reserve Bank of Tonga acknowledged the diverse representation at this week’s workshop, saying, “SPC has done very well to bring together voices from Government, from the farming and exporting community, media and especially youth. The presentations were very informative and covered a range of topics that allowed us to work together to drive discussion and agree on ways forward in knowledge sharing and supporting information dissemination relevant to the sector.”
According to Ramanlal Vallabh of Radio Nuku’alofa, “media has an important role to play in promoting this sector and sharing key messages. The new Agriculture Policy Bank by SPC is a good one-stop shop for ordinary people to access information on Agriculture policies and plans”.
The Pacific Community also supported development partner discussions for the Agriculture and Fisheries sector which included representation from the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).
The week of activities also included handover of climate resilient crop varieties from SPC’s Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT), to the Government of Tonga. SPC Deputy Director General – Fiji Operations, Dr Audrey Aumua thanked the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni for accepting the handover of crops on behalf of the Government.
Dr Aumua noted that “Food security is a fundamental human right and an increasingly prevalent challenge for Pacific countries including Tonga. The economic costs of micronutrient deficiency is well documented.
Agricultural research has been proven to result in significant returns on investment. The research role undertaken by the Pacific Community’s Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees or CePaCT as the most comprehensive Pacific genebank with the largest collection of Pacific crops, is instrumental in addressing this challenge”.
Dr Aumua also stated that the handover signified the commitment by SPC to the Government and people of Tonga to address food, nutritional and income security.
The week of activities culminated in the joint official presentation of the Tonga Agriculture Sector Plan (TASP) and the launch of the Tonga Agriculture Policy Bank which is an initiative of the SPC EU PAPP.
At the launch of Tonga’s APB, Dr Aumua informed stakeholders including Government officials and development partners that the policy bank as an electronic repository is a significant tool for Tonga to better organise information and make key policies and related documents available to the public on a platform which can be accessed by all.
Officiating at the launch of the Tonga Agriculture Policy Bank, the Honourable Fatafehi ‘o Lapaha of Tonga’s Royal Family commended SPC and its partners in hosting the range of activities this week.
“SPC has long been an important development partner to my people and we are particularly grateful for this focus on Agriculture which is so important to us. Being part of this week’s awareness workshop, I learned so much about the significance of the sector to Tongans seeing that we are all involved to some extent in cultivation of crops or livestock for subsistence or exporting.”
In reference to the policy bank, Honourable Fatafehi stated, “the European Union PAPP has done a great job to link our country not only to other Pacific islands with similar repositories but also globally through the Intra- ACP Agriculture Policy Programme and I thank you for considering our Kingdom. I had the chance to explore the policy bank this week and found it very comprehensive. I am especially impressed with the summaries of the new sector plans and especially making information available in both English and the Tongan language”.
Honourable Fatafehi also stated that the activities this week have been instrumental in bridging a very important link between the public and private sectors in Tonga, to inform more effective dialogue between stakeholders at the policy level and to ensure there is also a bottom up approach in consultation towards the implementation of Tonga’s new sector plan.
Tonga will be the third Pacific island country to launch its Agriculture Policy Bank, following Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Media Contacts
Salome Tukuafu
Information and Communications Management Officer
SalomeT@spc.int
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Issued by the: Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forests and Fisheries