Agriculture and forestry leaders from across the Pacific will meet in Fiji next week to chart the future of the region's agriculture and forestry sectors.
Ministers and Heads of agriculture and forestry departments from 22 Pacific nations will converge in Nadi for the 2023 Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry (PWAF), with the event aiming to enhance collaboration under the common theme of Growing Together: Transforming Pacific Agriculture and Forestry.
ACIAR and its fellow Australian Government partners proudly support the vital forum, being held for the first time in 4 years due to COVID-19 disruption.
ACIAR CEO Professor Andrew Campbell is leading the ACIAR delegation and said the week-long event is a valuable opportunity for the Pacific family to meet face-to-face and reset development priorities following the pandemic.
'The Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry is a much-anticipated event that will enable ACIAR to meet with Pacific partners from multiple countries in-person and discuss how we can contribute to a more resilient, sustainable and food secure region.
'ACIAR will be hosting and participating in a range of initiatives throughout the week that will see our Pacific partners lead discussions, set priorities for the years ahead and provide guidance on how we can contribute to their agricultural development priorities.
'We are here to listen to Pacific voices and to look for opportunities to strengthen our research partnerships to help transform food systems for the betterment of smallholder farmers and rural communities across the Pacific,' added Prof Campbell.
In addition to supporting The Pacific Community (SPC) and Fiji's Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry in running PWAF, ACIAR is also directly sponsoring the Fijian Institute of Agricultural Science (FIAS) to lead a Regional Research Symposium on Agriculture and Forestry to identify how science and innovation can bolster food security and further economic development throughout the region.
ACIAR is also collaborating with Australian Government partners and SPC to run a Talanoa on Pacific food systems pathways, from promise to practice focusing on future research initiatives required to underpin broader transformation of Pacific agrifood systems.
Recognising the convening power of PWAF, ACIAR will also meet with senior leaders from its current partner countries and engage with Pacific alumni (graduates of various ACIAR-funded scholarship programs) to discuss future research and capacity building efforts in the region.
PWAF centres around the 8th Regional Meeting of the Pacific Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services and the 3rd FAO SPC Joint Agriculture and Forestry Ministerial Meeting. Complementing these high-level meetings of Ministers and senior officials will be 27 side events throughout the week, focusing on themes including pandemics, climate change and natural resource security, transforming agriculture and security through science and technology, and creating circular green economies.
Learn more about ACIAR involvement in PWAF and visit the SPC website for the PWAF official program and registration details.
ACIAR is investing more than A$18 million in agricultural research-for-development partnerships in 2022-23 across 8 countries in the Pacific, including Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Learn more via the ACIAR website.
