Census of Agriculture 2007—Vanuatu Vanuatu National Statistics Office PMB 9019 Port Villa Vanuatu Tel: (678) 22110 / 22111 Fax: (678) 24583 Email: [email protected] www.spc.int/prism/country/vu/stats National Statistics Office The Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO) is a Government department and is Vanuatu's official statistical agency. Its roles and functions are governed by the Statistics Act of 1983. The Department is headed by the Government Statistician whose responsibilities are also detailed in the Statistics Act. Prior to the Comprehensive Reform Program, which started in 1996, the VNSO was part of the National Planning Office, under the direction of the Prime Minister's Office. As a result of the Reform Program, the VNSO is now a separate Department under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management (MFEM). Functions and Responsibilities The function of the VNSO is to produce timely and accurate statistics about the economic and social characteristics of Vanuatu, for use by government departments, private institutions, businesses, overseas organisations, researchers, students and the general public. Statistics produced by the VNSO play an important role in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of government policies. This has become increasingly important as the Government is evaluating the implementation stage of the Comprehensive Reform Program. Layout and design 2008: Michael Ashcroft, www/cenart.net Printed by Instant Colour Press, Canberra, Australia FOREWORD The Census of Agriculture is a large scale undertaking to collect statistical data at provincial level. These data are needed to evaluate the status of the agricultural, forestry and fisheries sectors in Vanuatu and for planning. I would like to thank the Vanuatu Government for taking the initiative to secure the necessary funds for the project. My sincere thanks go to the New Zealand High Commission, the Australian High Commission and European Community for arranging finance from NZAID, AusAID and EU for this latest agricultural census, and to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for providing technical assistance to the project. My sincere gratitude goes to Pioni Willie, National Project Coordinator, for his dedication and hard work over the entire period of the project. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the provincial census coordinators, supervisors and enumerators for working hard in the field collecting the required data; also not forgetting the general public for their fullest cooperation in providing relevant information. I would like also to convey my sincere thanks to Ms. Alice Sami, Deputy National Project Coordinator and Mrs. Aspinold Amos, Administration and Finance Officer: their assistance and support in the implementation of the project was invaluable. My sincere thanks go to Ms. Nancy Wells, Government Statistician, who was initially instrumental in making sure that the project secured the necessary funding. Logistical support and assistance during planning, preparation and data collection was provided by the departments under the Ministry of Agriculture, Quarantine, Forestry and Fisheries. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the Provincial Agricultural Officers for their involvement in the training of enumerators and for facilitating field operation throughout the census period. Mrs. Gwenneth Natu-Tari from the Department of Agriculture is thanked for her assistance at the data analysis stage I wish to express my sincere thanks to the following people: Ms. Josie Perez, Mr. Gene Lorica, FAO consultants and Mr. Cecil Ipalawatte, a data analysis consultant from Nirmana Pty Ltd, for their tireless efforts during data processing and analysis. Their guidance and support in getting the census results published are gratefully acknowledged. Lastly but not the least, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to Mr. David Marshall, FAO Senior Statistician, for his technical support and guidance from beginning to end of the project. CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 2007 — VANUATU 3 PREFACE The Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO) is pleased to publish the Census of Agriculture 2007 Vanuatu final report. The report is based on the results of the census and surveys conducted between 21st August and 21st October 2007. The report contains only a selection of summary tables; the detailed disaggregated data can be made available to users on request. The census of agriculture was a government-sponsored operation to derive quantitative statistical information on the structure of agriculture using the agricultural sub-holding as the unit of enumeration. The specific objectives of the census were: to provide data on the structure and characteristics of agricultural activities as well as forestry and fisheries in Vanuatu; to provide bench-mark data for use in national accounts estimates; and to provide a sampling frame for future surveys of agriculture including livestock, fisheries and forestry. Data processing was conducted in the Vanuatu National Statistics Office with the assistance of FAO data processing consultant, Mr. Gene Lorica. Ms. Josie Perez, FAO census & survey consultant, and Mr. Cecil Ipalawatte, data analysis consultant from Nirmana Pty Ltd, Canberra, Australia, assisted with data analysis. Two VNSO staff members and one from the Vanuatu Department of Agriculture wrote the report in Manila, Philippines, under the supervision of Ms. Josie Perez. The draft was reviewed by another FAO Consultant, Mr. David Marshall, senior statistician, as well as by Mr. Cecil Ipalawatte in Port Vila. This review resulted in a recommendation that parts of the report be re- written, and the report then be edited, designed, typeset and printed by a Canberra-based team drawn together by Nirmana Pty Ltd. I would like to express my gratitude to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, in particular Ms. Josie Perez, Mr. Gene Lorica, and Mr. David Marshall. I would like also to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Cecil Ipalawatte of Nirmana Pty Ltd., Dr Kim Wells of Forestry & Ecology (editor), and Mr. Michael Ashcroft from Cenart.net (designer) for their invaluable team effort in getting the report substantially rewritten, edited, designed and typeset ready for printing, all in the space of one month. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the members of the Vanuatu Agriculture Census Steering Committee for their guidance and valuable advice during the entire implementation period of this now successfully completed census. I wish to sincerely thank the staff and officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, the Ministry of Agriculture, Quarantine, Forestry and Fisheries, the Departments of Agriculture, Quarantine & Livestock, Forestry and Fisheries, the Department of Land Surveys, and the Department of Provincial Affairs. This publication will be a valuable resource for users, especially for planners and decision- makers, in the important economic sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Simil Johnson Acting Government Statistician Vanuatu National Statistics Office CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 2007 — VANUATU 5 LIST OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 3 PREFACE 5 PART ONE: ANALYSIS CHAPTER 1 The Agriculture Census 2007 9 CHAPTER 2 Introduction to Vanuatu 15 CHAPTER 3 Agricultural households and their economic activities 23 CHAPTER 4 Crop gardens 27 CHAPTER 5 Kava sub-holdings 33 CHAPTER 6 Coconut sub-holdings 41 CHAPTER 7 Cocoa sub-holdings 49 CHAPTER 8 Coffee sub-holdings 55 CHAPTER 9 Vanilla sub-holdings 59 CHAPTER 10 Pepper sub-holdings 63 CHAPTER 11 Cattle sub-holdings 67 CHAPTER 12 Livestock kept other than cattle 73 CHAPTER 13 Fishing 77 CHAPTER 14 Forestry-related activities 83 CHAPTER 15 Commercial farms 87 PART TWO: CENSUS TABLES LIST OF CENSUS TABLES 93 CENSUS TABLES 99 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 2007 — VANUATU 7 CHAPTER 1 THE AGRICULTURAL CENSUS 2007 The Agriculture Census 2007 was the third undertaken in Vanuatu for the purpose of compiling information on agriculture, forestry and fisheries resources. Data collected will be used to formulate plans, policies and programs for the development and improvement of these sectors. This census was conducted by the Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO), a centralized organization mainly responsible for the collection and dissemination of important statistics in the country by means of censuses of population, agriculture, household income and expenditure surveys, business surveys, collection of imports and exports data, etc. However, owing to limited resources, the VNSO cannot accommodate requests for extra data needed by other government and private sectors: hence, these data may have to be collected independently. Agricultural statistics in Vanuatu are produced in two ways: through census/ survey and through administrative records. The census/survey provides baseline or benchmark information for planners and policymakers while the data from administrative records are used to keep track of changes and development in specific aspects of agriculture. 1.1 Objectives of the census The Agriculture Census provides the following: • data needed for the formulation and implementation of agriculture development projects; • benchmark information to evaluate the progress of agriculture projects undertaken by the government to improve crop yields and livestock production; and • updated information on agricultural households, agricultural operators and operational holdings for conducting future sample surveys. CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 2007 — VANUATU 9 Following these