disasters and agriculture in the pacific islands - Pacific Disaster Net

4. DISASTERS AND AGRICULTURE IN WESTERNMELANESIA: THE CASE OF VANUATUTHE AGRICULTURE OF WESTERN MELANESIAThe countries of western Melanesia Papua NewGuinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu areagrarian societies with high rates of populationgrowth. 76 Agriculture provides by far the mainsource of employment and household income.The current status of the agricultural sector inthese countries is summarised in Table 20. ThePapua New Guinea tree crop sector is by far thelargest in the region, but the Solomon Island andVanuatu industries are the most important interms of their relative contributions to thenational economies.Western Melanesia is a region of frequentnatural disasters. During the past thirty years,Vanuatu has experienced the most intensecyclone activity of this century. In SolomonIslands, hurricanes are less frequent but a majorhurricane in 1986 severely affected copra, oilpalm, and cocoa production. Papua New Guineais outside the hurricane belt, but its tree cropsector has not been spared the impact of naturaldisasters.In 1994, a volcanic eruption at Rabaul severelyaffected cocoa and coconut production in EastNew Britain, dropping national cocoaproduction by 10,000 tonnes. There has beensome recovery in production, but the volcanoundermined an already unfavourableinvestment environment. Development ofVanuatu's small coffee industry and food cropproduction on Tanna has been adverselyaffected by acid rain from volcanic eruptions,as has food production on Ambrym.At the time of this study, all the countries ofwestern Melanesia were in the grip of an EINino-induced drought. Especially affectedwere the highlands of Papua New Guinea,where the worst drought for fifty years wascompounded by repeated frosts that killedkaukau (sweet potato) the staple of thehighlands, and extensive fires that destroyedmuch of the bush food. Costs of emergencyfood and losses to commercial agriculture wereenormous. In late 1997, the coffee industry,Papua New Guinea's largest agricultural exportindustry and the largest employer of labour,was projecting a drop inTable 20: Contribution of agricultural sector to Melanesian economies.Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands VanuatuYear 1996 1996 1996Exchange rate Kina/$US= 1.32 $SI!$US3.55 Vatu!$US109Total value of tree crop exports ($US mill) 353.6 31.7 11.4Coconut products 44.6 7.8 10.1Cocoa 36.0 5.0 1.2Coffee 161.8 - 0.1Oil palm 107.1 18.9 -Tea 4.1 - -Per cent of total exports 13.9 17.1 58.1Per cent of GDP 6.5 (1992) 5.2 (1995)Per cent of population deriving income from tree > 70 > 70 > 70Per cent of population living in rural areas > 80 > 80 >80Contribution of subsistence to GDP 77 13.9 16.7 16Source: McGregor 199776 Estimated in 1995 to be 1.9 per cent for Papua New Guinea; 2.4 per cent for Vanuatu and 3.3 per cent forSolomon Islands; South Pacific Commission, Population Data Sheet.77 Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands: ANU, 1997; Vanuatu: ADB, 1997.