BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
The Agriculture National Advisory Council (ANAC), will play an important role in helping the Ministry of Agriculture overcome challenges related to food, says World Bank Country Manager, Bernard Harborne.
ANAC was approved by Cabinet on June 27, 2024 and formally launched at the Heritage Park Hotel on October, Monday 27th by the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) Franklyn Wasi and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Prof. Raluca together with members of the Council, at this year’s World Food Day event.
Speaking at the launch of the ANAC during the World Food Day celebration, Mr Harborne said that there was an interesting report recently released by Save the Children on nutrition and climate in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands (SI) and Vanuatu.
He said that the report brought the challenges the Pacific faces in terms of climate, food production and nutrition of children, either undernutrition or related issues of non-communicable diseases and imported food and ultra-processed food.
“That’s something that clearly the National Advisory Council (ANAC), can really play an important role in helping the Ministry of Agriculture overcome the challenges. The agricultural sector itself is such a critical one, given that 80% of the S.I population live in rural areas,”
“It’s like a sector that you cannot ignore. So, it is so critical to the life of this country. We estimate that there’s a potential of growth and productivity to replace something like $80 million worth, US dollars’ worth of unprocessed agriculture commodities to be grown in this country,” said Harborne.
“And in turn, to really grow the cash crops such as cocoa, copra and kava, which run at about 25 million US dollars every year. So, there’s a real potential here and a real opportunity and the question is how,” he added.
He said that the corporate strategy and the advisory council (ANAC), are really important elements in that support of the ministry.
“We stand ready to support, looking at how we can support you in inclusive production. Good luck with the hard work ahead and we look to support you in those efforts,” said Harborne.
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