The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is calling on Pacific governments and development partners to better coordinate agricultural investments and ensure funding translates into practical results for the region.
The call followed a meeting of Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) held in Port Vila last week, where countries discussed ways to strengthen agriculture and improve coordination between governments, development partners and investors.
FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific said the region needed to move beyond identifying priorities and investment opportunities and focus on implementation.
“We must move from priorities to investment and from investment to implementation.”
The representative also cautioned that expressions of interest, financing commitments and actual funding disbursements were not the same, highlighting the need to ensure commitments result in action.
Vanuatu Calls for Investment to Match National Priorities
Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Timothy Tumukon, said development partners needed to align their investments with the priorities identified by Pacific countries.
He said Vanuatu’s direct investment focus was on strengthening the economy within communities across the country’s islands.
“A clear message has emerged from this forum: the Pacific does not lack ideas, and the Pacific does not lack commitment. What we need is greater alignment of investments behind nationally owned priorities and systems that can deliver lasting impacts at scale.”
New Platform to Coordinate Agricultural Investment
Pacific ministers launched a new Agrifood Investment Platform during the meeting to help turn commitments into action.
The platform will bring together governments, development partners, regional organisations and investors to share information, agree on key agricultural priorities and coordinate investments across the region.
The initiative is intended to improve cooperation and ensure investment is directed towards priorities identified by Pacific countries.
