The government is looking to strengthen partnerships between itself, indigenous landowners, and farmers through a new Partnership Proposal.

To make this a reality, the current Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, and Biosecurity, Hon. Ian Wilson, has announced a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. The Ministry is working to implement this initiative to ensure its full impact is realized across the country.

This PPP will allow farmers without access to sufficient land to use suitable land for farming.

Once operational, the PPP will serve as a platform that brings together indigenous landowners, farmers, and the government to meet production requirements, respond to international market demands, and generate income within Vanuatu.

In an interview with VBTC News, Hon. Minister Ian Wilson said the government sees this initiative as a way to empower local farmers through opportunities that can generate substantial income.

“If the government can partner with landowners who have land and with the citizens of Vanuatu in projects under the three departments—Agriculture, Livestock, and Forestry—we can create activities that empower our people. Many of our people are turning to seasonal work programs because they believe they can’t have a good life here in Vanuatu. That reflects the result of past decisions. If there is to be renewed hope, then the government must rethink how we invest in our people, because Vanuatu lacks key resources,” he said.

Hon. Wilson highlighted that while the country has sufficient land for agriculture, what Vanuatu lacks most is human resources for development.

“In agriculture, we have enough land, which is our greatest resource. But we lack the human resources. Many of our strong men and women are traveling overseas—around 16,000 people, if I’m correct. We want to create opportunities so that when they return, we can reintegrate them into our farming systems.”

The Minister also explained that one of the reasons the Ministry is taking this direction is to help move subsistence farmers into semi-commercial farming through the PPP and a new agriculture permit system that will be launched soon.

“This is mainly to empower the people of Vanuatu and move them from the informal sector to the formal sector. This will be addressed through the agriculture permit system to be launched later this month. It will help transition our subsistence farmers into commercial farmers so that we can produce enough to meet market demand.”

The PPP initiative has already received signs of support from international stakeholders, and the Ministry is now working to refine its model to ensure it is effective.