From PACNEWS

Vanuatu’s Agriculture Minister David Tosul says Pacific and Caribbean countries have a lot to learn from each other.

Addressing the Caribbean Agriculture Ministers meeting in Paramaribo Wednesday, Tosul applauded the sense of unity and vision that he has witnessed from the various development initiatives across this region.

“One thing emerged very clearly – Vanuatu and the Pacific have a lot to learn from your great region, and specifically we have so much to learn from The Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) model.

The exchange between The Caribbean and the Pacific regions in agriculture is vital in this era due to the very fact that both regions have many similarities in terms of geography, markets, distances, food, nutrition policy challenges, climate change, high food import bills, and many more,” Tosul told the ministers.

Tosul met with his Suriname counterpart SoereshAlgoe during a bilateral meeting this week.

Both ministers shared experiences and challenges facing their agricultural sector and agreed to work together on areas of common need.

Tosul commented to Algoe that whereas the Caribbean had much to share with the Pacific, there was also knowledge and experiences the Pacific could share with their Caribbean colleagues.

The Vanuatu minister also thanked development partners in advancing the work in the agricultural sector.

“I register at this juncture my gratitude and thanks for the support accorded to Vanuatu and to us all by CTA, FAO the EU and other donor partners in advancing the growth of the Agriculture sector.

“Through the support CTA provided under the Intra-ACP Agricultural Policy Programme, an EU funded programme, the exchange between the Caribbean and Pacific was made possible. The programme provides the mechanisms for more exchange between our two regions,” he said.

He said lessons learnt from the Caribbean Week of Agriculture provided a good platform for the Pacific to organise its own agriculture week.

“The Pacific will build on the experience of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture to host its first ever Pacific Week of Agriculture (PWA), which was announced recently in Samoa at the Private Sector Forum prior to the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States.

“The Pacific will kindly seek the expertise of the Caribbean in staging its first ever PWA event tentatively in 2015

“We have a proven a track record of successfully hosting international events in the recent past, such as the EU/ACP Ministerial in 2012,” said Tosul

According to Tosul, Vanuatu is also hosting the EU/ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly next month and the upcoming CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in 2017.

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