Posted June 1996
Technical Consultation of South Pacific Small Island Developing States
on Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Forestry And Fisheries
Apia, Samoa, 6-9 May 1996
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
and South Pacific Regional Environment Programme
1. South Pacific Small Islands: Basic Indicators
2. South Pacific Imports and Exports
3. Pacific Platform for Action - Rethinking Sustainable
Development for Pacific Women Towards the Year 2000
4. Review of Policy Alternatives to Developing Countries
| Country | Mid-1994 Population (thousand) (1) | Population growth rate (1) | Surface (km2)(1) | EEZ (km2) (2) | Per caput GDP (US$)1 | Per caput ODA (US$) (3) | Trade Balance (projection) (4) | Debt service % of export (5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook Islands | 19 | 1.1% | 240 | 1 830 | 3 416 | 723.1 | .. | .. |
| Fiji | 769 | 2.0% | 18,272 | 1 135 | 1 991 | 78.7 | -216 | 11.7 |
| Kiribati | 78 | 1.9% | 690 | 3 550 | 461 | 200.6 | .. | 5.6 |
| Marshall Islands | 54 | 4.2% | 181 | .. | 1 576 | 639.9 | .. | .. |
| Micronesia (Fed. States of) | 107 | 3.4% | 701 | .. 1 | 474 | 558.0 | .. | .. |
| Nauru | 10 | 1.2% | 21 | 431 | .. | 19.0 1991 | .. | .. |
| Palau | 16 | 1.8% | 494 | .. | 3 289 | .. | .. | .. |
| Papua New Guinea | 4,246 | 2.3% | 462,243 | .. | 999 | 52.2 1991 | 76 | 31.3 |
| Solomon Islands | 368 | 3.5% | 27,556 | 1 116 | 529 | 177.8 | -11 | 12.4 |
| Tonga | 99 | 0.5% | 699 | 596 | 1 396 | 290.9 | -56 | 3.9 |
| Tuvalu | 10 | 2.3% | 86 | 857 | 1 068 | 421.3 | .. | .. |
| Vanuatu | 165 | 2.5% | 11,880 | 857 | 1 020 | 183.3 | -55 | 45.7 |
| Samoa | 163 | 0.3% | 3,935 | 96 | 722 | 261.5 | -63 | 11.7 |
1. Estimates based on ESCAP Population Data Sheet (1994) and South
Pacific Commission (1993)
2. Economic Exclusion Zone. Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development
3. Per caput official development assistance (ODA). Source: Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (1995) and Waysata World Fact Book
(1993)
4. Source: ADB, Asian Development Outlook (1991)
5. Debt service (for goods and services). Sources: World Bank and UNCTAD
(1990)
| Country | Main Products Imported | Main
Products Exported (% of total exports) | Main Destination (% of total exports) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook Islands | food, manufactured goods, textiles, fuels, timber | copra, fresh and canned fruit (pawpaws, bananas, oranges), vegetables, clothing, black pearls | NZ 80%, Japan |
| Fiji | machinery and transport equipment, petrolium products, food, consumer goods, chemicals | sugar 40%, clothing, processed fish, gold, lumber | Australia 15%, UK 26%, Pacific Islands 11%, Japan 6% |
| Kiribati | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, manufactured goods, fuel | copra 50%, seaweed 16%, fish 15% | Denmark, Fiji, US |
| Marshall Islands | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, beverages and tobacco, fuels | coconut oil, fish, live animals, trochus shells | USA, Japan, Australia |
| Micronesia (Fed.States) | food, manufactured
goods, machinery and equipment, beverages | fish, copra, bananas, black pepper | Japan, USA |
| Nauru | food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery | phosphates | Australia, NZ |
| Palau | ... | trochus, tuna, copra, handicrafts | USA, Japan |
| Papua New Guinea | food, fresh fruits and vegetables, capital goods, petroleum products | gold, copper, coffee, cocoa, fish, palm oil and forest products | Australia (40%) |
| Solomon Islands | plant and machinery, manufactured goods, food and live animals, fuel | fish 46%, timber 31%, palm oil 5%, cocoa, copra | Japan 39%, UK 23%, Thailand 9%, Australia 5%, USA 2% |
| Tonga | food products, manufactures, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, chemicals | vanilla, fish, root crops, coconut oil, squash | Japan 34%, NZ 13%, Australia 13%, USA 17% |
| Tuvalu | food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods | copra | Fiji, Australia, NZ |
| Vanuatu | machines and vehicles, food and beverages, basic manufactures, fuels, chemicals | copra, beef, cocoa, timber, coffee | Netherlands, France, Belgium, Japan, New Caledonia |
| Samoa | intermediate goods 58%, food 17%, capital goods 12% | coconut oil and cream, copra, taro, cocoa | NZ 34%, Germany 18%, Australia 11%, American Samoa 21% |
4th World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995
STRATEGIES
1. Agriculture and Fishing
Objective: to promote and support women's participation in agriculture and fishing (both paid and unpaid activities) and to recognize women's role in food security.
Action plan:
2. Environment
Objective:
to recognize and utilize the critical role and knowledge of women in environmental
management and development.
Action plan:
3. Poverty
Objective:
to recognize the increasing incidence of poverty in the Pacific, particularly
as it relates to female-headed households, and to promote means to address
the root causes of this increasing problem.
Action plan:
| Policy | Efficiency Concerns | Compliance with GATT | Comments |
| Output Price Support | Inefficient targeting, resource mis-allocation, can be high cost. | Poor: subject to limitations outside of which distorts prices and increases AMS. | May be a case for price stabilization involving limited support. Generally regressive in effect . Difficult to target. |
| Input subsidies | Resource mis-allocation, can be high cost. | Moderate: may be used under certain conditions. Otherwise contributes to AMS and price distortion. | Offers a degree of targeting: marginally preferred to output price support. Distributionally regressive. |
| Credit subsidy | Efficient targeting, relatively efficient resource allocation. | Moderate/good: less distorting effect, possibility of exemption. | More favoured form of intervention, and potentially easy to target. |
| Food security stocks | Minimum distorting effect when objective of stocks is to eliminate extreme market fluctuations only and not to maintain a narrow market price band. | Moderate/good: purchases and sales can be at administered prices, but subsidy to producers must be included in AMS. Such stocks must be integral part of national food security programme. | Process of stock accumulation and disposal need to be financially transparent |
| Subsidized food distribution | Market distortion is minimized when subsidized transfers are well targeted and, in the case of general subsidies, the market is not crowded out by too low and static subsidized prices. | Good: eligibility to receive food an/or money to buy food at market or subsidized prices subject to clearly defined criteria. Subsidization of prices on a regular basis also permitted. | Food purchases by government to support subsidized programmes shall be at market prices; required financial and administrative transparency. |
| Non-tariff barriers | Inefficient resource allocation; tariffs preferred. | Poor: distorts prices and increases AMS, tariffs should replace non-tariff barriers. | May need to phase out tariffs slowly. |
| Direct income payments | If feasible might involve excessive cost. | Good: no distorting effects, no increase in AMS provided meet criteria. | Not feasible in most developing country contexts. |
| Public investment (extension, research, infra-structure, marketing and storage facilities) | Efficient resource allocation with minimum distortion of market activity. | Good: in general no distortionary effects or increases in AMS. | Results may be too long-term, particularly infrastructure. Investment in marketing and storage most beneficial. Difficult to target. |
Source: FAO, 1994. A Preliminary Assessment of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, Marrakesh, 12-15 April 1994.
Go to: Policies for Sustaining Food and Agriculture in the South Pacific - Part 1 | Part 2
FAO gratefully acknowledges the collaboration of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in the organization of this Consultation, and the financial support provided by the Government of Australia. This document is the result of the cooperative work of several FAO technical divisions and of Mr. Allan N. Rae, Massey University, New Zealand, whose contribution is appreciated.
Go to: Introduction | Agenda | Policies | Natural Resources | Production | Programme | Consultation summary | Ministerial meeting