Regional Workshop on integrating agricultural questions with 2020 round of population and housing census, Noumea, William Okekini Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Department of Agriculture Planning and Land Use AGRICULTURE CENSUS IN SOLOMON ISLANDS: FUTURE FOCUS 28 th May - 1 st June 2012

Basic Facts Agriculture is the ‘backbone’ of Solomon Islands’ economy and rural livelihood. 992 Islands, total land size of 27,547km 2 and 0.62 per cent of the total land are arable and suitable for agriculture production. 87 % of the total land is under Traditional Land Tenure System 2009 Household Population census - 515,870, Males – 264,455, Females – 251,415, House Holds – 91,251 GDP per capita: 2,800 US dollars Agriculture contribution to total GDP ranges from 35 – 42 % per annum Major earnings coming from exported agriculture commodities such as Cocoa Beans, Coconuts (Copra & Oil) and Palm Oil. Stress from TLTS has put pressure on food production, commodity export prospects and food security. Labor force by occupation in agriculture is 75% Agricultural commodity exports are still the major source of earnings to the country.

Map of Solomon Islands

Agriculture Data S.I is yet to conduct an Agriculture Census HH Population census (Every 10 yrs) HIES (5 yrs) Agriculture Rural Development Study Cash crop data – Cocoa, coconut, palm oil Agricultural and Forestry-themed National Minimum Development Indicators Weakness Consistency and cross-sectional Measurements and usage of data Weak partnership linkage between Ministries and other stakeholders

2009 Population Census Questionnaire

2009 PCQ Cont…

Coverage for Solomon Islands - Agricultural and Forestry-themed National Minimum Development Indicators ThemeCodeIndicator Data is available? Score (Yes=1, Proxy = 0.5, No = 0) Before country visit (internet search only) After country visit (April 2012) Before country visit After country visit (Apr 2012) Macroeconom ic/ overview AF.1.1 Proportion of household income from agriculture and forestry activities (%) No Yes (2005-6) 01 AF.1.2 Proportion of national GDP from agriculture and forestry (%) No Yes (2005-6) 01 AF.1.3 Proportion of labour force engaged in agriculture and forestry activities as their primary activity (%) Proxy (1999) 0.5 AF.1.4 Proportion of national budget allocation for agriculture and forestry (%) No Yes (2011) 01 Trade and food dependency AF.2.1 Value of domestic production of agriculture and forestry products (US$ per year) No 00 AF.2.2 Volume of total domestic production agriculture and forestry products (kg) No 00 AF.2.3 Volume of exports of agriculture and forestry products (kg per year) No Yes (1st part of 2012) 01 AF.2.4 Value of exports of agriculture and forestry products (US$ equivalent per year) No Yes (1st part of 2012) 01 AF.2.5 Volume of imports of agriculture and forestry products (kg per year) No Yes (1st part of 2012) 01 AF.2.6 Value of imports of agriculture and forestry products (US$ equivalent per year) No Yes (1st part of 2012) 01 AF.2.7 Food price index Yes (2008) Yes (2012) 11 AF.2.8 Food import dependency ratio % No Yes (2005-6) 01 Land Resources AF.3.1 All available agricultural land use classifications as proportion of total land area (%) No 00 AF.3.2 Area of forested land as proportion of total land area (%) (MDG 7.1) Yes (2010) 11 AF.3.3 Current rate of deforestation - forests cleared (Hectares/year and percentage of forests per year = [hectares/year]/total hectares) Yes ( ) 11 AF.3.4 Area of reserved/protected land as proportion of total land areas (%) No Yes 01 AF.3.5 Average annual soil erosion rate – wind and water erosion (thousand tonnes per hectare) No 00 Nutrition AF.4.1 Daily consumption of fruit and vegetables per capita per day (Mean number of servings per day) No Proxy 00.5 Total covered Source: Bower, J Total no. indicators 18 Percent coverage 19.4%72.2%

Uses of the S.I Agriculture Census Data Input – output relationship (Productivity) Production Vs Land use Population Vs Production Production Vs Soil fertility Production Vs Farming systems Trend Analysis Food production Vs utilization Designing Gov’t Policies, planning and decision making

Connecting Agric Census to SIIARD Solomon Islands Information for Agriculture and Rural Development (SIIARD) will result in evidence-based policy, strategic planning, decision-making and implementation of agriculture and rural development programs with regard to: Agricultural land use systems Areas of agricultural opportunity Areas of rural disadvantage Areas of climate-change induced food security vulnerability and adaptability Areas of Food Security and Nutrition, and Areas of and for economic growth and development

SIIARD Framework

Frame work SIIARD LAND USE P 3 D MODELLING AGRICULTURE CENSUS SIRIS SISEM SIMAS

Way forward Funding Agric. Census in S.I to be done before 2014 Stand alone Project Questionnaire design The use of data in policy, planning and decision making Training – capacity building

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