A series of two workshops and launch event, for agriculture policy and regional agriculture knowledge management, were held in Vanuatu from 7–10 September 2015.

About 40 people attended each of the workshops, with participants from both uniting at the end of the week for the official launch of Vanuatu’s Agriculture Policy Bank, attracting about 60 people. Attendees included agriculture, forestry and fisheries officers, local social media reporters plus communication professionals. They attended from eight of the 15 invited ACP countries across the Pacific region including Vanuatu, Tonga, Palau, Niue, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji and Samoa.

The launch of the policy bank was a first for Vanuatu – and for the region – to give farmers easy access to a library of summarised key policy documents in English, French and Bislama. Its launch linked with the Vanuatu National Agricultural Policy Awareness and Implementation Workshop, which aimed to provide national stakeholders with an overview of the country’s new Agriculture Sector Policy 2015-2030. That second workshop followed one earlier in the week dedicated to agriculture and knowledge management, and to develop new ideas on how to give farmers better access to agriculture policies, research and information. 

The events were a collaborative effort between Vanuatu’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Forestry and Biosecurity (MALFFB), and the European Union (EU) supported Pacific Agriculture Policy Project (PAPP), implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). Other partners contributing to the workshop include the Intra-ACP Agricultural Policy Programme, supported by the European Union and the ACP group of States, under the Intra-ACP cooperation and the ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) that coordinates inter-regional exchanges between Pacific and Caribbean countries.

Schedule of events: • Media Briefing, 7 September 2015 (2 hours) • Strengthening Regional Knowledge Management Capacities Workshop, 7-9 Sept.(3 days) • Vanuatu National Agricultural Policy Awareness and Implementation Workshop, 10 Sept. • Launch of the Vanuatu Agricultural Policy Bank, 10 Sept. (evening event) • (Post-event activity) Penama Provincial Agriculture Sector Policy launch (also cattle shipment and new MAFFB vehicle dedication ceremony), 15 September 2015 (1 day)