Agricultural Productivity in Pacific Island Countries: Issues and Challenges

Most Pacific Island Countries (PICs) rely heavily on the agricultural sector for food, security and source of economic growth. Thus, with the increasing population, especially in the Melanesian and Micronesian countries, and desire for higher incomes, agricultural productivity has to be increased through efficiency gains and technical progress. But, the pertinent question is; how well have they done in these areas in the past? An analysis shows that in most countries, while production in the crop and livestock sector has increased, the per capita production has decreased. Moreover, estimates of the total factor productivity reveal little gain over the past four decades. The most striking result is that, efficiency has declined in all countries considered in the study. The result of this paper is the identification of the causes of such trends, and suggestion of policy measures that can be implemented for raising agricultural productivity.