Climate Change & Agriculture Committee Launched in Eratap

by Jean-Baptiste CALO

The Shefa Province Area Development Officer, Ian Kalsuak officially launched the Eratap Climate Change and Agriculture Committee on Friday November 7th  2014 at the Eratap Presbyterian Church hall.

Shefa Provincial Area Development Officer, Ian Kalsuak (Top Far left)
launched the Eratap Agriculture & Climate Change Committee.

M. Malian Andrew the young Eratap Area Secretary and Eratap Youth leader is heading the newly formed committee.

The newly launched Eratap Climate Change & Agriculture Committee is comprised of six (6) members who are community leaders within the village.

The newly formed committee is comprised of the following members:

Malian Andrew as the Chairman, Josephine Tom as the Vice-Chairman, David Andrew is  the Secretary, Andrew Andrew is Vice Secretary, Tinapu Andrew, Leisok Kalosil, Ray Kalosil and Kalfau Kalsong are the simple members of executive committee.

In his launching remarks, Mr Kalsuak congratulated the newly established community for their initiative and he also took the opportunity to challenge the Eratap Community to arise and to be proactive in working closely with the department of agriculture and the climate change authorities in the country to arrange for more awareness and demonstration plots where they could practically trial hybride root crops conceived by the Vanuatu Agriculture Research & Technical Centre (VARTC).

“People of Eratap, wake up, other villages located at the surrounding areas of Port-Vila such as the villages of Pango and Erakor have also recently launched their similar committees because they are aware of the urgency of to cater for food security in the future. And they are exposed to worse cases of population pressure (compared to Eratap) with the urban drift phenomena in the Capital city. Erakor and Pango are moving. They are acquiring more knowledge in forestry and new farming techniques resilient to climate change ....You have to wake up, move and organise yourself before you’ll be left out far behind”, Mr Kalsuak said.

He encouraged the newly established Agriculture and Climate Change Committee to be proactive and to work closely with the relevant government departments in order to train the Eratap farmers and families with the new farming techniques and new hybride root crops that will be trialled on the demonstration plot.

During that meeting, the Principal Agriculture Officer, Antoine Ravo and GIZ Climate Change Programme officer, Isso Nihmei did a presentation on the role of the Department of Agriculture of its extension services and the impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture and the Environment.

Mr. Kalsuak praised Malian Andrew for his willingness and good heart to offer a piece of land for the demonstration plot.

Mr Ravo and Mr Nihmei congratulated the new established committee and invited them to work closely with the Department of Agriculture and GIZ Climate Change Programme for the trials on the demonstration plot.

Mr Ravo emphasised that government departments can only work on commented based project through such established committees.

This launching is a result of a project conducted by Native Productions, a small local TV production who carried out a survey study on the impacts of climate change and none climatic issues on the community of Eratap located at 15 minutes drive from Vanuatu’s capital, Port-Vila.

Eratap Area Secretary and Chairman of the newly established committee, Malian Andrew thanked Native Productions for the “Stori Blong Aelan” project on Eratap.

The Member of the Eratap Chief Council, Kalfao Kalsong said : “Through this project we had various workshops and group discussions on the Impact of Climate Change and urban drift. We had the opportunity to increase our knowledge and learn about the existence of new farming techniques resilient to Climate Change. And today, we are launching the Eratap Climate Change  & Agriculture Committee. All those things are happening through the project initiated by Native Productions. We hope that you will always be available in the future to assist us with your counsels”.

The “Stori Blong Aelan” project carried out by Native Productions is funded by Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS).

The project was comprised of a survey carried out during a one year period through various group discussions and meeting with the Eratap villagers who attended the workshops organised by Native Productions with the assistance from a facilitator from the Vanuatu National Climate Change Office. A short video documentary, “Stori blong Aelan” was also produced as part of that project. It is available on the PACMAS website and on Youtube on the following internet links:

http://www.pacmas.org/profile/documentary-stori-blong-aelan/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrKznfdfCM

Exclusive Interview With Vanuatu Ambassador at the EU on the Kava Dossier

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HIS EXCELLENCY ROY MICKEY JOY ON THE KAVA DOSSIER 

by Jean-Baptiste CALO

Vanuatu Times: Your Excellency,you’ve been pushing the kava dossier for the last decade or so. And the Vanuatu government also through the ministry of trade and the ministry of foreign affairs has been repeatedly raising the kava issue during international meetings.

After the positive results of the Independent European Research team on kava, the German Federal Court has finally handed out its judgment in favour of the lift of the kava ban in Europe. And today Kava is recognised as an official product of the ACP group. Can you elaborate on that.

 Vanuatu Ambassador to the EU, H.E. Roy Mickey Joy

His Excellency Roy Mickey Joy: Two things have happened since our ministerial meeting held in March 2012.  We went back to Brussels we worked with the ACP Secretariat. 

We worked really hard with the EU to convince them to recognise the issue of Kava as an emergent commodity for Pacific Islands Kava producing countries.

On the one hand we have now secured through the ACP-EU technical balance to Trade BMU, a global some of 400 0000 Euros for the second study on Kava dynamics which is going to be launched in Brussels in the next few weeks.

The experts would be based in Vanuatu and they would cover Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Federate States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, the friends of Kava. 

These are comprehensive studies. 

On one hand , the study will be going to look at the current ban, the signs, the analysis done by the laboratory that is going to be recognised and authenticated.

 And secondly, looking at the trade policy area, where to move the kava dossier from where we are in this point in time.

The expert who has spent more than 20 years in kava research. Dr Vincent Lebot will be part of consultancy team who will help the Pacific island countries to carry out that kava scientific study for a 7 months duration.

After the completion of the scientific research, a ministerial meeting will be convened here in Port-Vila Vanuatu. A meeting in which the global players and actors, the private sector, the exporters and the farmers will come together and decide on the new roadmap of the kava production and development in the Pacific. 

We are going to work with national and regional organisations to agree on new mechanism for the pricing of kava as a commodity.

And thirdly, Vanuatu will have to use the base of the study to redefine the legislation of how kava should be consumed, used and utilised commercially in Vanuatu. So that we give back the level of ownership to our farmers,  but largely we protect kava as a product of the people of this country.

Naturally and economically yes,  we will see a relatively increase in Kava price locally and internationally.

The farmers will be paid the price due to them, exporters will be able to generate enough commercial benefits of kava. But lastly and importantly, the Vanuatu people through the government and through Parliament and through the farmers will be ale to administer, regulate and look at the scope of kava as a commodity that will take this country in the next 20 years.

There has never been so much work done over kava in the last 34 years until we came into the scene.

And this is one of the direct work of the embassy of Vanuatu in Brussels to take the Kava dossier to the global scene as it has never been seen before.

At the beginning of this year we made a submission to the ACP Secretariat in Brussels. The ACP Secretariat is at the moment reviewing and redefining the scope of its work on commodity programs.

For the last 30 years,  ACP and EU have given so much attention to sugar through the sugar protocole, the cotton producing countries in Africa and bananas.  Now I wish to confirm at this stage, kava from the Pacific region has now been accepted now has the fourth items in the whole ACP commodity program beginning in 2015-2020. 

V.T.: What does that mean?

His Excellency R.M.J.: It means that while ACP and EU are trying to sort out their own fundings and program activities for the next few years, they will also be able to treat kava equally as they treat and give financial support to sugar and bananas in the Caribbean and cotton from 5 producing countries in West Africa.

So never before we’ve seen kava come to this stage.

The only challenge now is for our local industry in Vanuatu. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade and the Chamber of Commerce , they need to come together to start organising themselves on the challenges that are going to come about as the result of these studies.

They need to play their part and be part of the entire process otherwise, we can have legislations and the work done, be if the industry is not prepared, we’ll not be able to fulfil the aspirations that are expected from this important work we’re doing outside.

My advise to the kava farmers is to plant more noble varieties of kava recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture, Trade and Chamber of Commerce. They should plant more because because when the increase of the kava prices comes, we’ll have an influx in the market.

I want to encourage the farmers to continue to plant even more kava, because the future is looking bright for them with how things are evolving now in regard to this commodity.

They should plant more to prepare for the openings that the EU and the world market outside will take into  kava.

Kava is has special properties,  it should not be abused. Kava is the future of this country. This country depends on kava.

I think it is high time that we, policy makers assist in preparing the enabling environment to facilitate trade and business in the kava trade.

I think the general economic trend would see a quiet large increase of the pricing of kava locally between the islands into the urban centres in Port-Vila and Luganville and also in the export market. The farmers will be able to make enough money out of their kava products for the first time. And we could also expect an increase of the kava price in the Nakamals (kava bars) in Port-Vila and Luganville.

Agriculture Dept to Emphasise on ICT to Enhance the Primary Sector in Vanuatu

"The Ministry of Agriculture to Push on ICT to Be More Effective": DG Aru

by Jean-Baptiste CALO

The Director General for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Howard Aru emphasised that the ministry has no other option but to make sure that human resource of all the departments under the ministry and especially the field workers will be be trained in using ICT tools to enhance the work done by the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and bio-security in Vanuatu.

Director General For Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock, Forestry
and Bio-security

DG Aru made this remark on Friday October 17th 2014 in his closing speech of the 5 days training workshop on web 2.0 and online social media that was attended by 20 participants mostly from government the agriculture department, and other government line agencies including NGO representatives.

Mr Aru said that him and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry were made aware of the crucial importance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the development of Agriculture and the overall primary sector today in the world.

"Me and the Minister David Tosul just arrived from the Caribbean Week of Agriculture recently organised in Paramaribo, Suriname in South America. The main point that was raised during that international agriculture event was the importance and necessity of the use of ICT and Social Media in the development of Agriculture, Forestry and Forestry. The Caribbean and African are well off in terms of the use of ICT in the primary sector, and they all testified about the goodness and necessity of the use of ICT tools in terms of enhancing the productivity and networking from the authorities to the farmers below and also in terms of the marketing of the products", Mr Aru said.

He went on saying that "Vanuatu has no other options but to seriously embark into this ICT revolution. The Ministry has taken a firm stand to make sure that all the staffs from the ministry down to the field workers will all be trained in using ICT tools. We will run a series of web 2.0 training with the staff of all the departments under our control, namely the departments of Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock and bio-security".

Vanuatu Web 2.0 participants create their own blogs

20 Ni Vans Attend a Training on the Use of Web Online Applications

by Jean-Baptiste Calo

Twenty Ni- Vanuatu from various government line agencies and NGOs have attended a 5 days training on the use of web online applications in order to encourage information sharing.

20 Ni-Vanuatu participants attended a 5 days workshop on web 2.0
  and the use of web online applications.

The workshop consisted of training the participants to use web2.0 online applications such us Google and all its features (Google +, Google Drice, Google Map, Google Docs, Google Video Hangouts and Videocalls..),  including the does and dont's when you're using social media such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Youtube…

The participants were also taught how to download and use Skype application. They also lear how to create, design and use a blog.

Over 200 million people in the world are using web 2.0 or social media tools in the exercise of their profession and also for their private use.

With the fast development of Information Communication Technology throughout the world, social media has become so overwhelmingly used by all the generations even in Vanuatu urban centers such as Port-Vila and Luganville and their outskirt areas since the opening of the telecommunication market in 2008.

In her opening remarks on Monday October 13th , the first Political Advisor for the Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture , Emily Tumukon stated that: “Vanuatu is a young state as far as information and communication technology (ICT) is concerned and the development of ICT is very important for the socio-economic growth of the country’. 

Mrs Tumukon delivered the opening speech on behalf of the Honourable David Tosul, the Vanuatu Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB). 

She stated that Areas of improvement are to have the Ministry officials trained properly in using and managing the current ICT facilities and also training farmers to use the technology that can be beneficial to them. 

Mr Hanington Tate, Director of Forestry, believes that new ICT tools such as web 2.0 can promote agricultural and forestry information to rural and remote communities of Vanuatu. He further added that participants at the workshop will benefit from the web 2.0 training and could as trainers in the next web 2.0 workshop is scheduled for this year and early next year. 

He added that this type of workshop also offers a platform where participants from the government line agencies and those representing  different stakeholders can come together to share their experience and eventually to find out how they can collaborate by making use of each others’ network in order to better reach and serve the people of the country.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) promotes the training on web 2.0 and social media to increase awareness among development actors on appropriate, low cost and simple web applications.

The training workshop focuses on web online tools in the context of development work and is addressed to stakeholders actively engaged in agriculture and rural development / natural resource management in the domains of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for development, policies and markets, publishing, communication and media.

Sponsored by the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), the event, titled “Web 2.0 for Development and Social Media Learning Opportunity”, is undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Office of the Government’s Chief Information Officer.

The training workshop funded by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation under ACP-EU (CTA), is facilitated by Anju Mangal and Miriama Kunawave Brown took place at the conference room of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) in Port-Vila.