The Pacific Vision for Adapted Crops and Soil (PACS) was officially launched this week in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, on the margins of the 4th Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry.
As climate change threatens food systems, the PACS will improve food and nutrition security with investments in soil health and climate-adapted crops.
PACS is inspired by the global Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils movement (VACS), which focuses on identifying and mobilising resources to scale investments in nutritious crops that are adaptable to climate change.
A two-year foundational period of funding has been secured from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to establish PACS, pilot the approach, and develop a long-term investment framework.
Australia has committed AUD 4 million to SPC, with AUD 1 million allocated for technical support from CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, with complementary funding from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Ms Karen Mapusua, Director of SPC’s Land Resources Division, expressed gratitude to the Australian Government for funding the first phase and described the launch of PACS as the formation of a coalition of partners united by shared goals and a commitment to the common good.
“Thank you to the Government of Australia for stepping in and funding this first phase. The goal is to strengthen our countries and our people in the face of climate change and to be more resilient and have healthy future generations.”
DAFF Deputy Secretary, Agricultural Trade and Regulation, Tina Hutchison said, “The beginning of this foundation period, which we are celebrating today, is focused on building partnerships and collaboration. Australia is proud to be supporting this Pacific-led initiative through funding and technical support from DFAT, CSIRO, Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the DAFF.”
In the foundational phase, regional consultations will be held to select approximately 20 crops that are priorities for investing in, focusing on nutrition, potential for adapting to climate change, and potential for improving soil health.
Country level assessments will be undertaken in three pilot countries to understand what work and knowledge already exists, understanding where further investment is needed to address gaps or support connections between areas of work, pilot approaches to addressing gaps, develop an investment framework to mobilise resources to accelerate research, development deployment and consumption of these crops.
PACS implementation will follow a three-phased approach. Firstly, opportunity crops will be identified focusing on the diversity of key crop varieties to maximise their potential to improve nutritional security, soil health and thereby help mitigate biodiversity loss in the field of food plants.
Secondly, an assessment of how those opportunity crops and the soils they are grown in have been affected by land degradation and will be affected through 2050 by climate change.
And thirdly, mobilising resources to accelerate research, development and deployment of these crops and to improve regional soil information systems and sustainable land management knowledge and practices.
Three pilot countries will be selected during the foundational phase through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process. Eligible countries include Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. All SPC member countries and territories will also be involved in the pilot phase through the establishment of a knowledge-sharing community within the PACS initiative.
