THE Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL), Dr Samson Viulu has announced that his ministry is working on a new overall Agricultural Sector Development Policy based on the existing agriculture sector growth strategy and investment plan launched in 2021.
Dr Viulu made the announcement on Wednesday 30 October at the opening of the three-day celebration of the World Food Day and other events in the United Nations Calendar – World Food Safety Day, World Environment Day, International Women’s Day and World Soil Day, all of which affect global food security.
The MAL PS said this new overall policy is aimed at strengthening the functions and organizational structures of the ministry and ensuring proper coordination of agricultural development activities to accommodate the changing dynamics of the society.
In this regard, he called on all the country’s bilateral and multilateral development partners to support this effort of the national government through MAL by committing more resources and assistances for the development of the agriculture sector with a local focus and a trajectory toward ensuring a sustainable economic growth based on a robust agricultural sector.
Dr Viulu underscored that the true strength of the nation lies in the rural economy, and if the country is to realize its full potential, developing the agriculture sector has to be at the forefront of all agricultural interventions.
Further to the Agricultural Sector Development Policy announcement, Dr Viulu and the MAL Minister Franklyn Derek Wasi launched the Solomon Islands Government’s SBD 5 million Cocoa/Coconut Revolving Fund.
An ambitious Dr Viulu said the fund is intended to capitalize on cocoa and coconut due to the high world market prices for these commodities.
He said this funding initiative will encourage existing cocoa and coconut farmers to seriously produce high-quality cocoa beans and copra.
Dr Viulu said while the funding may be insufficient, through the strong support of the Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) and interested donor partners, MAL hopes to increase this particular funding next year, depending on the success of this current phase.
On that note, he thanked the New Zealand Government for providing SBD100, 000 worth of cocoa farm tools and equipment toward this effort.
The World Food Day celebration falls on the 16 October every year but MAL and Food and Agriculture Organization organized a late celebration due to late funding availability and also to allow for a major celebration to also mark other important events in the United Nations Calendar.
The celebration is made possible with support from FAO, which provided a funding of SBD245,310 and the World Bank through the Solomon Islands Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SIART) Project, which contributed SBD98,000.
The theme for this year’s World Food Day celebration is “Right to food for a better life and better future.”
By IAN LADDS OSO
Solomon Star, Honiara
