Placing the Pacific in the Global Economy
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Final Report, July 2012 Placing the Pacific in the Global Economy: Carving Sustainable Niches for Economic Development By: Catherine Jones, Warwick E Murray and John Overton 0 Table of Contents Research Team Members ........................................................................................................... 3 Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................................ 4 Original Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 5 Key Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 6 Research Outputs and Multipliers.............................................................................................. 7 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................................. 9 Objective One ......................................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 Economic reform and its impact on the Pacific ............................................................ 11 1.3 Liberalisation of Pacific Agriculture ............................................................................ 13 1.4 Niche Production in the Pacific .................................................................................... 14 1.4.1 Neoliberalism or New Found Glocalised Alternatives? ....................................... 15 1.4.2 Advantages of Niche Production in the Pacific .................................................... 16 1.4.3 Disadvantages of Niche Production in the Pacific ................................................ 17 1.5 Summary of Literature ................................................................................................. 19 Objective Two ........................................................................................................................ 20 2.1 Case Study One: Samoan Noni Juice .......................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Historical Analysis ................................................................................................ 21 2.1.2 Trade Trends ......................................................................................................... 25 2.1.3 Local Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts ........................................... 27 2.2 Case Study Two: Samoan Coconut Oil ........................................................................ 31 2.2.1 Historical Analysis .................................................................................................. 32 2.2.2 Trade Trends ........................................................................................................... 33 2.2.3 Local Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts ............................................. 37 Objective Three ...................................................................................................................... 42 3.1 Case Study One: Fiji Kava ............................................................................................ 42 3.1.1 Historical Analysis ................................................................................................ 43 3.1.2 Trade Trends ......................................................................................................... 47 3.1.3 Local Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts ........................................... 51 3.2 Case Study Two: FIJI Water ........................................................................................ 57 3.2.1 Historical Analysis ................................................................................................. 57 3.2.2 Trade Trends .......................................................................................................... 58 3.2.3 Local Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts ............................................ 66 Objective Four ........................................................................................................................ 75 4.1 Geographical Indictors (GIs) ........................................................................................ 75 4.2 Towards a Glocalised Alternative…………………………………………………... 78 4.3 The Advantage for Niche-Based Production in the Pacific .......................................... 80 4.3.1 Tradition ................................................................................................................ 81 4.3.2 Environment .......................................................................................................... 82 4.3.3 Discourses of Isolation and the Exotic ............................................................. .. 83 1 4.4 Costs and Benefits of Place-Based Niche Production .................................................. 84 4.4.1 Benefits ................................................................................................................. 84 4.4.2 Costs ...................................................................................................................... 85 4.4.3 Main Lessons Learned ...................................................................................... .. 85 4.4.4 Recommendations to Donors ................................................................................ 87 References ............................................................................................................................... 88 2 Research Team Members Research Team Leader and contact author details: Name Professor Warwick Murray Director of Geography, Victoria University of Job title and organisation Wellington Email address [email protected] Telephone number 04 463 5029 Research Team Co- Leader details: Name Professor John Overton Citizenship/residency NZ citizen status Director of Development Studies, Victoria Job title and organisation University of Wellington Team member 1 details: Name Conway Pene Lecturer in Geography, University of the South Job title and organisation Pacific Team member 2 details: Name Professor Vijay Naidu Director of Development Studies, University of Job title and organisation the South Pacific 3 Introduction and Overview We present here the final report on the IDRP project titled Placing the Pacific in the Global Economy: Carving Sustainable Niches for Economic Development. In order to do this we first repeat the original abstract. Following this we reiterate the aims and objectives. This is followed by a detailed analysis of each of the objectives in separate sections. Whilst the report here is comprehensive there are further results that are on- going as scholarly papers and presentations are currently being written – details of these are also provided. 4 Original Abstract It is our contention that in order to promote local sustainable economic development in the Pacific the search for economies of niche as opposed to economies of scale in agro- exports is crucial. Attaining this will involve the strategic development of the potential economic value of place and uniqueness in a saturated global market of increasingly homogenised products (Murray, 2006). Doing this requires two things: 1) Understanding past attempts to promote niche agro-exports and analysing their success and failures; and 2) Identifying sectors where there is potential for niche ‘place-based’ exports and assessing the requirements for sustainable growth. This research will assess the impacts of niche place-based products in the Pacific paying particular attention to key sectors in Fiji and Samoa. Grounded case studies of kava and water in the former and coconut oil and noni in the latter will provide lessons that can be applied to the future development of niche place based products. The research will identify a range of such potential products and identify the impediments to sustainable social, economic and environmental sustainability in those sectors. As such there are valuable empirical, policy-based and theoretical lessons that will be gleaned from this research. 5 Key Aims and Objectives The project has two central aims: A1) To analyse the socio-economic and environmental impacts of niche agro-export product development in the Pacific to date through the exploration of key case studies A2) To assess potential ‘place-based’ niche agro-exports and to analyse the requirements for the development of sustainable economic sectors in this area Building from these aims there are four linked research objectives: O1) To assess the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of niche agro-export development in the Pacific through an extensive literature review O2) To undertake two case studies of attempts to develop place-based niche exports in Samoa through the examination of Samoan coconut oil and Samoan noni O3) To undertake two case studies of attempts to develop place-based niche exports in Fiji through the examination of Fiji kava and FIJI Water O4) To assess the common requirements for place based niche products in the Pacific and the future of socially beneficial, environmentally sound and economically sustainable ‘place-based’ niche products in the region Subsequent to a list of research outputs and a summary of the findings