WHEN the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access (PHAMA) Program was established in 2011, it was designed to help Pacific Island countries improve market access for primary and value-added products.
Six years on, the Australian and New Zealand Government-funded program has progressed in leaps and bounds, successfully impacting thousands of livelihoods, protecting jobs and initiating breakthroughs for commodity-exporting households and communities across the Pacific.
PHAMA recently undertook a study to determine these benefits, now launched in an Impact Report.
An aid-for-trade program, PHAMA’s goal is to increase exports of fresh and value-added agricultural products, contributing to economic growth and improved rural livelihoods.
PHAMA supports agriculture as it is central to the economy of Pacific Island countries and is a major employer and source of livelihood for many Pacific families.
Agriculture is also the second largest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) in the countries in which PHAMA works: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
Launched at the Pacific Week of Agriculture in Vanuatu, the Impact Report, available on PHAMA’s website, reveals that PHAMA has successfully impacted about 142,200 livelihoods and at least 5600 jobs.
Recognising that agricultural interventions take time to yield results, the impact study has projected that PHAMA’s total economic impact to the end of 2020 is conservatively estimated at $A78.7 million ($F161m), a result of protecting and increasing agricultural exports incomes.
Among its priorities, PHAMA strives to ensure that greater numbers of people in poverty are included in trade and export, to facilitate improved incomes and lives.
The program has also committed to involving more Pacific Island women in training and capacity building activities; empowering them and boosting their confidence to engage further in trade and export.
Some notable achievements by PHAMA include:
* Helping to protect Solomon Islands’ seafood exports to the European Union. As one of three main supporters, PHAMA’s contribution is valued at $A30m ($F61m) from 2012 to the end of 2020. PHAMA’s support has helped to protect 3100 jobs for Solomon Islanders.
* Helping to protect approximately $A15m ($F30m) worth of annual exports of kava and 39,000 livelihoods in Fiji and Vanuatu. PHAMA’s contribution is valued at $A14.5m ($F29.8m) to the end of 2020.
PHAMA has worked with both countries to put in place quality systems by developing quality standards and manuals and kava quality screening tests.
* Establishing a pathway for squash exports from Tonga to China.
Three-year projections for squash exports into China show a steady increase from 1500 tonnes in the first year to 5000 tonnes in the third year, or more than $A6m ($F9.6m) over the 2017-2020 period.
* Supporting cocoa value chains in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa.
PHAMA has assisted cocoa farmers, processors and exporters to earn additional income which filters through to more than 20,000 rural households in the Solomon Islands, 9000 in Vanuatu and hundreds of households in Samoa.
* Establishing Market Access Working Groups and Industry Working Groups to bring together members of the public and private sectors to prioritise market access issues and activities.
Other export commodities which PHAMA supports are coffee, coconuts, value-added coconut products, taro, watermelon, sawn timber, beef, ginger, fresh produce, spices and handicrafts.
Over the years, PHAMA’s work and support has inspired many farmers, processors and exporters to explore and pursue new goals, lifting their standard of living and contributing to overall economic development.
The PHAMA Program will continue working to safeguard and grow the future of export commodities and livelihoods in the Pacific.
To do this, the program will continue to invest in forging effective public and private partnerships where it operates and work together with its regional partners like Pacific Community (SPC), Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and others.
