IMPROVE LINKAGES BETWEEN AGRICULTURE TRADE AND TOURISM STRENGTHENING

IMPROVE LINKAGES BETWEEN AGRICULTURE, TRADE AND TOURISM: STRENGTHENING THE LOCAL AGRI-FOOD SECTOR & PROMOTING HEALTHY FOOD IN AGRI-TOURISM WORKSHOP 1 – 2 APRIL, 2019, NADI, FIJI Moses John AMOS, Director General, MALFFB

PACIFIC ISLANDS FOOD SYSTEM CHALLENGES The food system of Pacific Island countries is undergoing profound changes that will be felt for generations to come. Nutritional security is being challenged by rapid population growth and urbanization, shortages of arable land, and cheap, low-quality food imports from burgeoning global trade. High dependency on imported foods that are energy-dense and nutritionally poor. Reliance on imported foods makes many PICs very vulnerable to variation in supply and cost. Fish stocks are expected to be directly affected by any changes that may occur in the ocean’s ecosystem. Warming waters would harm coral reefs and vital fish habitats. The state of the coastal fisheries in Vanuatu is near maximum capacity. Our demand for fish will greatly exceed the capacity of coastal systems to produce. Changes in temperature and rainfall would also impact the farming industry due to an increased risk of infestation by pests and diseases in many staple and export crops.

REGIONAL FISHERIES AND AGRICULTURE STRATEGIES AND CONNECTIONS TO TOURISM INDUSTRY Although tourism is the lifeblood of many Pacific economies and agritourism and provides a promising avenue for diversification and trade growth, PICs economies are determined by size of land, geographical location, diversification of resources, and resource limitation. Regional disconnection between regional organizations, including regional fisheries and agriculture strategies to tourism Regional agriculture policies focus on strategies to increase and sustain agriculture production for food security, nutrition supply, and value adding purposes for export markets Regional fisheries policies focus on strategies to sustainably management and develop fisheries resources for food security, nutrition supply, and value adding for export markets Regional disconnection impacts establishment of connections at national level to tourism industry

HARMONIZATION OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES, LIVESTOCK, FORESTRY, TRADE, INDUSTRY, LINKING TO TOURISM DEVELOPMENT Agriculture • strategies Fisheries Livestock Forestry Trade Industry Tourism • Strategies • Strategies TOURISM INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

REGIONAL AGRITOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Provide networking at the regional level Develop branding and standards Encourage trading of value added productions between PICs Develop agritourism data base Build connections, partnerships, and, coordination at the national level Capacity building needs for PICs based on agritourism needs and aspiration A platform to seek regional funding support to drive agritourism connections Drive food productions specific for the tourism industry Link agritourism to climate change S/National & community activities National agritourism A/plans Regional agritourism development strategy

TANKIU TUMAS