Policy Brief

The issue of youth engagement in the agricultural sector strikes the heart of a very difficult issue. In the Pacific region, youth unemployment is significant. Coupled with low economic growth, limited job creation and opportunities in the formal sector for youth, the engagement of young people in the agricultural sector would seem a solution for many. Yet the contribution of agriculture to GDP is less than 3% in most Micronesian countries, less than 10% in most Polynesian countries, and less than 20% in most Melanesian countries.

In 2008, ministers for agriculture called for ways to support young people to take up careers in agriculture. In response, the Pacific Youth in Agriculture Strategy 2011–2015 was developed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and endorsed by the ministers in 2010. The Pacific Youth Development Framework (PYDF) 2014 – 2023, tackles how to move forward from a strategic framework towards action, in environments with scarce resources for large-scale programming.

This policy brief draws on these and proposes a set of action-oriented steps to advance the formulation of an agricultural policy that aims to maximise youth potential to serve Pacific communities.

 

What is Food Security?

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. (World Food Summit, 1996)

The right to food security is central to human development and many of the major human rights treaties. It is also implicit in Goal 1 of the Millennium Development Goals – Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger.

© Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2014.
Original text : English — Permission is freely given to photocopy for educational purposes (non-profit and non-commercial) only. For permission to reproduce by any other means, adapt or translate, contact SPC.

This brief focuses on the following issues:
•What is biosecurity and why are biosecurity laws
important?
•Where are the current gaps in biosecurity legislation in
the Pacific?
•What work has been done to assist countries to update
and harmonise their biosecurity legislation?
•What progress has been achieved to date and what more
is needed?

Prepared by SPC for the Pacific Agricultural and Forestry Policy Network (PAFPNet), with funding assistance from the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

© Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2010.
Original text : English — Permission is freely given to photocopy for educational purposes (non-profit and non-commercial) only. For permission to reproduce by any other means, adapt or translate, contact SPC.

Agricultural and rural extension is one of the key policy instruments available to governments to bring about positive change in agriculture and rural communities.

Extension is the process of working with rural and farming communities to build on their knowledge and skills and thus improve their economic, social and environmental well-being.

Prepared by: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) on behalf of the Pacific Agricultural and Forestry Policy Network (PAFPNet)
Date: 2010

© Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2010.
Original text : English — Permission is freely given to photocopy for educational purposes (non-profit and non-commercial) only. For permission to reproduce by any other means, adapt or translate, contact SPC.

Livestock (particularly chickens and pigs) play a major role in the cultures and traditions of Pacific people. The demand for livestock products in the region is currently met from both locally produced products and imported livestock products. In a reflection of the global trend, demand for meat products has grown steadily (1.7 per cent per year) over the period 1972–2003.This trend is expected to continue into the future and presents a major opportunity for the development of the livestock sector in the region.

Prepared by: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) on behalf of the Pacific Agricultural and Forestry Policy Network (PAFPNet)
Date: September 2009

© Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2008.
Original text : English — Permission is freely given to photocopy for educational purposes (non-profit and non-commercial) only.
For permission to reproduce by any other means, adapt or translate, contact SPC.