Pacific Agroprocessing Roundtables N°2

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), about 67% of the Pacific region’s population depends on agriculture and fisheries for livelihoods. Issues such as commercialisation, natural disasters and climate change are bringing new and increasingly complex challenges for farmers in the Pacific.

Agro-processing, the process of transforming agricultural products into value-added products that can be consumed, stored, or traded, is a priority. It allows the private sector to move primary production by adding value to agricultural products and accessing new and diverse markets. Agro-processing contributes to extending the shelf life of agricultural products and reducing post-harvest losses and waste.

However, moving from primary production to agro-processing also involves many challenges and investments such as complying with standards and regulations for food quality and safety; investing in the necessary infrastructure and logistics; upgrading the skills and knowledge of the staff and the quality and safety of the products; coping with the changing consumer demands and market trends.

A priority for the Pacific region is to increase the value addition of traditional staple crops such as breadfruit, taro, cassava, sweet potato etc. improving nutrition and food security and providing new opportunities for domestic markets.
To increase incomes and value to local production the private sector in the Pacific needs to adopt innovative and sustainable strategies for agro-processing which support climate change adaptation strategies.

Agro-processing can provide opportunities for the private sector in the Pacific Islands to increase the income of value chain actors, create employment, improve food and nutrition security, and reduce dependence on imported food products while building resilience to climate change.

In this context, the Pacific Farmer Organisations (PFO) and COLEAD started a collaboration in 2024 by organising online roundtables on “Growing Resilience: Strengthening the agro-processing sector in the Pacific Islands”.

The sessions will have a strong emphasis on the value addition of traditional crops and domestic value chains and will showcase different agro-processing initiatives from cottage industry to larger commercial export markets and share knowledge, experiences, and best practices amongst the private sector.

The proposed roundtables will focus on entrepreneurs’ successes and discuss trends, skills, emerging innovations and technologies in agro-processing across value chains across different markets.

They will bring together different stakeholders and experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the agro-processing sector in the region and promote the exchange of best practices and lessons learned.