March 2017
Representatives from the Pacific, Caribbean, CTA, ACP Secretariat and EU DEVCO attending the 4th Intra-ACP Agriculture Policy Programme Global Steering Committee in Brussels
Some of PIFON’s work and it’s impacts at the farmer-level within the region was highlighted at the fourth Global Steering Committee (GSC) meeting of the Intra-ACP Agriculture Policy Programme (APP), held in Brussels on 25-26 January 2017. PIFON in collaboration with its national farmer organization members implemented a total of 30 activities under the SPC-PAPP partnership between 2014 and 2016. Several of these activities were highlighted at the recent- Intra-ACP APP GSC meeting including – the Pacific Breadfruit Roundtable, Regional Soil Learning Exchange, the Napil Rural Training Centre (Vanuatu), and the recently launched PNG Women in Agriculture website were the highlights of the Pacific component of the programme.
A report on the impacts from the PIFON-SPC partnership will be made available on the PIFON website soon.
The Intra-ACP APP Steering Committee Meeting was held at the ACP Secretariat offices in Brussels
The Pacific component will continue until June 2018 although there are no additional funds available for direct support to Pacific farmer organisations. According to the SPC-PAPP team there is a possibility for ongoing inter-regional collaboration, including – coconuts, breadfruit, climate change resilient varieties and germplasm, planting material commercialization, access to finance, and use of the Agriculture Public Expenditure Review (AgPER) tool.
Both the Caribbean and Pacific regions strongly suggest that farmer organisations should be involved right from the design phase when planning projects/programs of this type. Also recognized is the continuity of support needed by many MSMEs, including some farmer organisations, to ensure sustainability of intervention impacts post the life of the program.