disasters and agriculture in the pacific islands - Pacific Disaster Net

cost- effective to invest several million dollarsin on-farm measures to reduce landdegradation.can be promoted as a mitigation measure evenfor commercial crops.CROP SELECTION, TIMETABLES, ANDDISTRIBUTIONThis report has discussed the relative toleranceof various crops to disasters. Clearly somecrops are more resistant to disasters than others.In some cases it was found that susceptiblecrops, such as kava, were planted because thereturns justified the risk. On balance, crops thatare endemic to the region, or have adapted overa long period of time, tend be more resilient todisasters than more recently introduced crops.This consideration is sometimes over-lookedby agricultural planners. For example, tree nutshas been correctly identified as havingoutstanding commercial potential and exportdiversification potential. 136 Macadamia nuts,given the industry's success in Hawaii andAustralia, have been recommended in a numberof reports, 137 yet these evolved in a region ofAustralia that is not subject to cyclones and arehighly susceptible to strong winds. Once thetree is broken it does not recover, in completecontrast to several indigenous Pacific islandnuts. No doubt had the same resources beendevoted to developing these industries, as havegone into macadamia nuts in Hawaii, theywould now be significant industries. It isencouraging to note that in Vanuatu a seriouseffort is being made to develop a commercialindigenous nut industry.The various case studies showed the importantrole that planting timetables for crops had intraditional disaster mitigation. This traditionalknowledge needs to be preserved andpromoted. It can also be applied to nontraditionalcrops in order that the plants andtheir crops are put at least risk. The examplewas cited earlier of minimising risks forcommercial papaya production in Fiji byplanting in October or November, at thebeginning of the cyclone season.The Vanuatu case study described thedispersion of traditional gardens as a cyclonemitigation strategy. The impact of mostcyclones is generally localised, affecting onlyone or two islands--Cyclone Kina in Fiji and Ofaand Val in Samoa being notable exceptions.Even within the path of a major cyclone, somelocalised areas can be relatively undamaged bywind. Thus the geographic spreading ofplantingProject 9: The preparation of extensionmanuals on mitigation measuresThere is a need to integrate the promotion ofdisaster mitigation and food security measuresinto agriculture extension programmes. Theseprogrammes need to highlight the correlationbetween the adoption of sustainableagricultural practices and disaster mitigation.To facilitate this process, it is recommendedthat an extension manual on disaster mitigationpractices for the agricultural sector beprepared. This would incorporate traditionaland non-traditional crops, and would covertypes of crops, cropping systems, plantingtimetables etc. It is proposed that initially themanual be prepared for Fiji, Vanuatu, andSamoa. The estimated cost of these manuals is$US40, 000, as detailed in Table 42. It isrecommended that the Pacific Community coordinatethis project.CROP INSURANCEInvestors, including financiers, consideragriculture to be a risky venture due to itssusceptibility to large and sudden changes inweather and market prices. This in partexplains the low level of investment incommercial agriculture in Pacific islandcountries. Insurance offers in principle a wayof transferring some of the risk. It helpsfacilitate the recovery of individual producersand may encourageTable 42; Indicative cost estimates for anextension manual on disaster mitigation measures$USConsultant agriculturist 14,800• fee (28 days @ $350/day)• travel and perdiem $5,000Design and graphics consultant 10,350• fee (21 days @ 350 day)• travel and per diem $3,000Manual production and printing costs 15,000Total cost 40,150136McGregor and McGregor, 1996137ADB 1991; Carlos and Dawes, 1990