TANNA AGRICULTURE RECOVERY PROJECT

Vanuatu and in particular the rural agricultural communities of Tanna, are vulnerable to frequent disasters. Household incomes are around $40-60/month and fragile, being mainly dependent on the success of small, diversified crops. Income earned from cash crops enable families to send their children to school and access medical care. An estimated 80% of households are subsistence farmers, relying on what they grow for their food and basic income. 

The main income for many communities has been from coffee; Nasi Tuan has formed a coffee co-op and introduced processing capability for parchment coffee. A key short-term cash crop is peanuts, which have always enjoyed strong local and tourist demand.  Nasi Tuan have also pioneered markets for peanuts, and set up a peanut processing plant to roast and package peanuts for the tourist market. The peanut processing facility only sustained minor damaged in the cyclone. This means with peanuts being relatively fast growing, communities can begin supplying peanuts for increased returns. Communities also grow broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, tomatoes, dwarf onions, beans, lettuce, carrots, radish, cassava, kumala, taro, capsicum, garlic, chillies and ginger. 


This is an integrated agriculture program, it incorporates food security, cash cropping and value adding through organic certification and post harvest processing. 
 

• People have increased access to agricultural technologies & marketing opportunities.

 
The programme will train farmers on best practice organic agriculture/ context appropriate technology and increase market opportunities through quality and quantity of yields
 

• Farmers groups are established & have increased the quality of life of members.

 
Nasi Tuan will continue to build the capacity of Talao coffee co-op and form PGS farmer groups (a form of peer review organic certification)
 Income will be generated through peanut and coffee production

• This program continues to help Tanna households rebuild and improve their agricultural livelihoods after cyclone Pam. It will also build greater resilience through food preservation techniques. Climate change is resulting in severe weather events such as sporadic rain, longer dry seasons and increased pests. The program will address some of these pressures by teaching erosion control, soil fertility, improved planting stock, irrigation and organic pest control. Coffee Nurseries will be encouraged so there is planting material ready to be planted in the ground sooner after cyclones decreasing the lag in production after a major event.