Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific:
Vanuatu National Action Plan
The participatory creation of the National Action Plan during the Fiji Forum aims to provide tailor-made approaches in order to tackle specific in-country challenges and make use of opportunities at national level for agribusiness and value chain development.
The plan addresses four key themes:
1.NUTRITION: Reduction in NCDs and food imports and increased income from investments made in the development of local food crops and fisheries value chains
- Impact Aims: Increased household dietary diversity and production and sale of fresh and processed local food crops and fisheries
- Key Innovations/ Critical Success Factors: Multi-sectoral collaboration; Adequate funding for implementation; Coordination of government actions; Leadership of respective ministerial departments for agreed actions as identified in the national policy documents; community engagement/ bottom-up approach
2. FINANCE – Making farmers bank ready and banks farmer ready
- Impact Aims: New and innovative instruments that improve farmers/ SMEs access to finance and greater collaboration between commercial and development banks and donors
- Key Innovations/ Critical Success Factors: Vanuatu continues to have a modern and sophisticated banking industry
3. ICT – Robust Communication System for Growers / SMEs
- Impact Aims: Farmers/SMES adopt and apply ICTs to improve production, marketing, financial and business systems
- Key Innovations / Critical Success Factors: Services already in place – Weather/forecast SMS, Bank notice SMS and Shipping schedule SMS. ICT is feasible and impactful for Agriculture in Vanuatu. Phone penetration stays very strong (currently at over 90%).
4. INSURANCE – Robust Insurance Package for Farmers
- Impact Aims: Build local capacity and enabling environment for the development and introduction of agricultural insurance products.
- Key Innovations/ Critical Success Factors: No current legal obstacles to operating crop insurance in Vanuatu; stakeholders are interested in the concept of parametric crop insurance particularly, the opportunity to direct funds to farmers after an event; VMS is a competent body
Each theme is addressed under the sections:
- Action
- Partners involved
- Stakeholder Targeted
- Resources Required
- Timeframe
- Method of Verification
Download the Vanuatu National Action Plan here.
As part of the consultation process, interested parties are invited to provide feedback through joining the Vanuatu online discussion group or through the contact form here.
“Farmers are moving into more commercial crops to make money, but they and their families do not eat local. The problem is growing, and for low-income earners, it is often cheaper to buy imported products. We need to value our culture and traditions, be proud of our Pacific products and make our locally produced foods more affordable.” – Matai Seremaiah Nawalu, Minister of Agriculture, Vanuatu during the first ever Pacific Week of Agriculture in October 2017 in Port Vila
Are you interested in the Agriculture-Nutrition Nexus in Vanuatu? Download the report below which includes an overview of organisations working on agriculture, food and nutrition; the policy and institutional framework and key recommendations on how to strengthen the Agriculture-Nutrition Nexus in Vanuatu.
Building the evidence base on the agricultural nutrition nexus: Vanuatu