SPC Pacific Agriculture Policy Programme

Farmers are the focus of a new partnership agreement signed between the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific Island Farmers’ Organisation Network (PIFON).

The partnership, which provides F$400,000 support to the network in two years to December 2016, aims to also increase the contribution of the agriculture and forestry sectors to national economic growth and livelihoods in the Pacific region.

The partnership agreement was facilitated by the SPC Land Resources Division’s Pacific Agriculture Policy Program (PAPP), a programme funded under the European Union Intra ACP program encompassing the Pacific and the Caribbean region, of which eight million euro ($F19.7m) has been allocated by the European Union for the Pacific component.

The Pacific Agriculture Policy Program commenced in July 2014 and will run to 2017. PAPP’s main objective is to increase the capability of agricultural development organisations in the Pacific region and address the development needs of smallholder farmers by assisting them to adopt new technologies, build on traditional knowledge and strengthen linkages to markets.

The signed agreement lays the foundation in the following key areas of work over the next 24 months:
• Supporting regional exchanges of expertise between farmer organisations and private sector partnerships;
• Collaboration with Pacific country extension services, national farmer organisations and organic
producers on promoting sustainable agricultural practices;
• Strengthening the sustainability of national farmer organisations; and,
• Establishing a help desk for questions on commercial agriculture.

For more information on PAPP visit SPC-PAPP.