Opportunities for the smallholder sandalwood industry in ... - ACIAR

Promotion and extension
Ongoing extension activities are required to ensure
that appropriate establishment and management
techniques are implemented to maximise the economic
value of sandalwood plantings. Development
of awareness programs for nursery, planting, silviculture,
pest management and pruning, particularly
for the islands and areas without existing plantings,
would optimise their productivity and ultimate contribution
to national export earnings.
This study synthesised information and the experiences
of local sandalwood planters in Vanuatu and
used them as the basis of a silvicultural manual
available for smallholders. This extension information
provides the industry with the opportunity to
advance its development through improved productivity,
reduced rotations and higher quality products.
With the high interest in establishing sandalwood
woodlots across the country, sandalwood will be
established in areas with local environments different
from those of its natural range. This will present
challenges for growers to adapt techniques to these
new environments. This will require further evaluation
of productivity and production issues in these
environments and generalised strategies for meeting
these challenges.
Given the presence of televisions and DVD players
in most villages in Vanuatu, the development of video
extension materials such as DVDs would be a very
cost-effective method for connecting with farmers in
areas beyond the reach of existing extension officers
and programs.
Extension programs could comprise (a) workshops
in areas with suitable bioclimatic conditions for
sandalwood production, (b) publication and dissemination
of the extension document developed as part
of this project, (c) development of video extension
material in the form of a DVD, (d) further collaboration
with agricultural field officers during extension
activities, as they have greatest contact with isolated
rural areas, (e) use of national radio to hold regular
discussion forums aimed at general awareness and
dealing with specific smallholder issues through a
‘talkback radio’ format, (f) capacity building and
extension workshops with Vanwod’s Microfinance,
since it has an extensive network of farmers and
a fledgling sandalwood planting program, and
(g) development of close links with any future peak
industry body.
Outlook
The Vanuatu sandalwood industry is at a very exciting
position, where for the first time in its recorded
history the resource is rapidly expanding. Recent
planting activity over the past 10–15 years has
resulted in the establishment of between 420 and
700 ha of combined smallholder and commercial sandalwood
plantings. With such independent planting
activity continuing and the potential establishment of
230 ha of plantings under one microfinance project,
the future economic impact is likely to be extensive,
reaching many isolated communities. From the conservative
estimates of this study, the national annual
sandalwood yield in 2030 will be at least four times
the current 80 tonne quota. Such an increase will
have significant benefits to the local cash economy
and ultimately improve ni-Vanuatu livelihoods.
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