Grazing Livestock in the Southwest Pacific The benefits from improved production Contents

Prepared for publication by the
FAO Sub-Regional Office for the Pacific, Apia. Samoa
© FAO 1998

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Private Bag, Apia
Samoa

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FAO.

Any reference to the efficacy of any product herein does not imply endorsement by the author or FAO over any other product. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Acknowledgements

Financial contributions from the FAO Crop and Grassland Service (AGPC), the Farm Management and Production Economics Service (AGSP), the Sub-Regional Office for the Pacific (SAPA) as well as the French funded FAO Project GCP/SAM/07/FRA have made this publication possible. The author is especially indebted to Owen Hughes, SAPA Office, Apia for review, comment and assistance with layout and presentation and Dr Stephen Reynolds, AGPC, Rome for proofreading and comment as well as Peter Saville. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Suva, Fiji for additional technical information.

FAO Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Macfarlane, David C.
Grazing Livestock in the Southwest Pacific:
The Benefits from Improved Production. FAO. 1998.

ISBN 92-5-104178-4

Editor
Barbara Henson

Design and production
Peter Evans

Photography
David Macfarlane

Map prepared by Mapgraphics, Brisbane, Australia
Printed by Merino Lithographics, Brisbane, Australia

Cover photograph:
Cattle graze open and lightly shaded pastures under coconuts, Undine Bay, North Efate.

Back cover photographs from top to bottom:
Samoan Livestock Officer Fogatia Tapelu-Suttie and Savaii cattle farmer Emmy Trevor develop a fern control plan.
Jean-Baptiste Sanno leads a field day on his farm, Efate, Vanuatu.
Jona Iewere's daughter from Nagoda, Viti Levu, manages the family goats and milking cows.
Smallholder cattle farmers at a field day.
Many livestock smallholders also produce copra from coconuts.

Foreword

Pacific island states remain committed to sustainable economic development and improved standards of living whilst attempting to maintain key social and cultural attributes of the many different ethnic and lingual groups within the region.

The task of achieving planned socio-economic development which is also environmentally sustainable is considerable. Pressure on marine and land resources in the region is intensifying, sometimes exceeding the limits of sustainable resource use. With the exception of Papua New Guinea and Fiji, export bases remain narrow, and services such as tourism are often crucial for generating export earnings. Trade between Pacific island states is limited, reflecting the similarity of agriculturally derived exports and the lack of critical exportable quantities and economies of scale in many operations.

This book explores the scope for enhancing the livestock subsectors in the region, and breaks new ground in clearly establishing the importance of national livestock subsectors within agricultural sectors. It documents the substantial potential for growth which is both environmentally positive and sympathetic to other alternative land uses, and highlights the important role of enhanced livestock exports and import substitution in improving the economic performance of Pacific countries.

This publication synthesises the substantial experience of the author and a Southwest Pacific network of livestock productionists including smallholder farmers, plantation farmers, institutional extensionists, agribusiness managers and national agricultural sector decision makers. It provides a broad framework for understanding the range of issues involved in bringing about substantial and sustainable change, without losing sight of the farming communities, households and individuals who are at the core of such change. The integral place of livestock within rural communities is underlined by a generous selection of case studies.

This publication will be of value to national governments, international agencies and non-government organisations in planning future development assistance programmes and formulating agricultural policies. It will be of immediate use to extensionists, grazing system managers and agribusinesses serving rural commu-nities as well as providing a valuable resource for agricultural training institutions.

FAO is confident that the consideration, development and ultimate implementation of assistance opportunities described will make a significant contribution to sustainable economic development in the Southwest Pacific.

Vili Fuavao
FAO Sub-Regional Representative
Apia, Samoa

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

Contents

Foreword

Acronyms

Glossary

Map

Executive summary

1 Introduction: an overview of livestock systems in the Southwest Pacific

1.1 Rural households and livestock: key statistics
1.2 Background to livestock farming systems
1.3 Economic and cultural role of livestock
1.4 Potential for improvement
1.5 Ruminant livestock overview
1.6 Non-ruminant livestock overview
1.7 Overall land use and grazing resources

2 Increasing livestock production: proven on-farm technologies and practices

2.1 Using better animal husbandry practices
2.2 Improving animal nutrition
2.3 Matching pastures to soil fertility constraints
2.4 Managing weeds
2.5 Managing diseases and insect pests
2.6 Improving the quality of breeding livestock
2.7 Managing within ecologically sustainable limits
2.8 Integrating pastures and livestock with cropping

3 Providing better support to livestock farmers: skills and training, access to resource inputs, research, marketing, role of government

3.1 Improving extension and training services
3.2 Increasing the availability of resource inputs to farmers
3.3 Undertaking priority applied research
3.4 Improving marketing options
3.5 Broad role of governments

4 Potential for enhanced production: achieving positive socioeconomic, trade and environmental outcomes

4.1 Grazing resources required for production targets
4.2 Regional and national production gains
4.3 Community socio-economic benefits
4.4 Trade benefits
4.5 Environmental benefits

5 Increasing the effectiveness of development assistance: lessons learned from previous livestock projects

5.1 General background
5.2 Project design, management and implementation lessons
5.3 Impact of recent livestock system projects

6 Support programmes and initiatives

6.1 Key objectives of future livestock systems support
6.2 Opportunities for livestock subsector support

7 The current challenge

8 References and suggested further reading

Appendices

1 Additional notes, sources and assumptions
2 Existing and projected grazing resources and productivity
3 Common and scientific names of Southwest Pacific pasture species

Figures

1 Pig-owning households
2 Chicken-owning households
3 Horse numbers by country
4 Current agricultural land uses in the major livestock countries

Tables

1 Key rural household livestock statistics for the Southwest Pacific
2 Ruminant numbers in the Southwest Pacific
3 Overall land use: current and projected areas
4 Major current pasture and forage environments
5 Quantity (tonnes) and value (US$m) of imported livestock products
6 Projected changes in grazing carrying capacity and productivity after 15–20 years development
7 Current domestic ruminant animal production and self-sufficiency levels, and potential production after 15–20 years
8 Existing and projected grazing resources after 15–20 years development
9 Current and projected broad regional grazing resource groups over a 15–20 year period

Boxes

1 Cost-effectiveness of additional investment
2 Important non-feeding animal husbandry practices
3 Common limiting nutrients in ruminants in the Southwest Pacific
4 Farmer responses to nutritional constraints
5 The benefits of improving pastures: some examples
6 Existing grazing resources and increases required to achieve targets

Note   Financial amounts in this publication are expressed in US dollars except where specified otherwise. In paragraphs where multiple US dollar values are being quoted the first figure is expressed as US$ followed by $ designations. Conversions from local currencies to US dollars are based on late 1995 exchange rates. The local currency to US$ rates were: Fiji dollar (F$) 1.33, New Caledonian franc 110, PNG kina (K) 1.40, Solomon Islands dollar 3.30, Tonga pa'anga 1.3, Samoa tala (ST$) 2.40 and Vanuatu vatu (VT) 115. Figures are rounded as indicated in tables.

Acronyms

Glossary

abattoir	Centralised animal slaughtering facility which produces carcasses of cattle, pigs and poultry or packaged meat products for sale or on a fee-for-service basis for local butchers or exporters. Chilling and freezing facilities are often attached.
agroforestry	The management of trees with crops including pastures for livestock.
alley-cropping	The growing of inter-rows of food crops between lines of perennial shrub and tree legumes spaced 3–10 metres apart.
alluvial	Soils derived from the deposition by floodwaters from eroded uplands over millennia.
animal husbandry	Managing livestock to minimise stress and meet all the requirements for non-limited animal growth, reproduction, lactation and body maintenance.
animal unit	A standard measure for relating animal feed demand and potential feed intake to body size. One animal unit (AU) in the Southwest Pacific region usually equates to an actively growing 400–450 kg steer. A lactating beef cow with calf is 1.5–1.6 AU.
biodiversity	The variety of plants and animals in an area. Biodiversity refers not only to the number of species but also to the genetic variation within species.
boneless meat	Beef, sheep or goat carcass with bone removed, around 35% of live weight.
brewer's grains	By-product from breweries which have fermented barley to make beer.
brucellosis	Reproductive disease of cattle leading to abortion. It can infect humans.
carcass	Animal body from which head, skin, blood and viscera have been removed and which is ready for butchering.
case study	Intensive study over a period of time of a particular farm, frequently involving all of its household members.
catchment	An area of land from which rainfall run-off drains to a common stream or lake.
commercial farmers	Farmers who show varying degrees of a commercial attitude, that is, the desire to generate income through cash sale of produce or through exchange for other goods or services. Farmers who produce crops and livestock for subsistence and for income are referred to as semi-commercial.
conservation	Community, individual or government process of restricting or controlling land use on areas of high natural and biodiversity value to ensure ecological stability.
copra cake/meal	Stockfeed residue once oil is mechanically or chemically removed from copra.
cost-effective	Where the farmer perceives that additional inputs and costs will generate sufficient production and financial benefits to make them worthwhile.
cost-benefit	Comparison of the benefits derived from a project or commercial enterprise for a specific investment.
customary land	Land is owned by clans or families which is transferred between generations according to cultural procedures.
farm development	The process at a farm, community, catchment or regional level where the planning needs and aspirations of land users are carefully balanced with the physical financial and human resources available to produce sustainable farming.
development assistance	The process of financial, human resource and physical support by national governments and international donors in assisting community and national development in line with government policies.
deregulation	The process of steadily or rapidly reducing national industry protection from domestic and international competition.
disc strip	Ploughing strips in existing pasture land using disc harrows or disc plough.
draught power	Use of horses and bullocks to plough, pull carts or carry personnel or produce.
erosion	The process of removal of soil from its place of origin by the action of water or wind on soil surfaces without adequate protective vegetative cover.
extensionist	A government, non-government or private sector person involved in general or specific subject area advisory support to farmers.
fa'alavelave	Term for traditional ceremony in Samoa for major social and cultural events.
farming system	A class of all farms with similar land use, environment and economy: comprising the farm household, its land and the systems of crop, livestock and forestry production for sale or household consumption or use as well as systems of conservation. The farm household is the basic decision- making unit.
fertilising	Improving soil fertility and structure with the addition of specific inorganic and organic materials containing nutrients and/or organic matter.
forage	Term used for permanent or short-term pastures and annual fodder crops.
grazing system	The integration of soil, pasture and grazing animal components, sometimes under tree crops. Grazing systems integrate with cropping systems on farms.
hardseededness	Impervious legume seed coat condition which prevents soil water entry and germination.
harrowing	Covering of seed with uniform layer of soil using a dragged tool or implement.
hectare herbicide	Equivalent to 2.47 acres or 10 000 square metres. Chemical applied to foliage, stems or roots of plants growing in undesired situations (weeds) to kill, suppress or stop flowering, to provide an advantage to crops and pastures.
household	One or more families normally living in the same house or compound in a shared economic community.
native pastures	Land areas comprising one or more grasses (rarely with legumes) that occurred naturally in Southwest Pacific environments prior to European contact. Species which were introduced more than fifty years ago which are now widespread are termed naturalised: for example, the introduced legume centro.
improved pastures	Improved pastures involve the introduction of one or more grasses and legumes into an existing or newly developed grazing system to increase forage availability and/or quality to the grazing animal.
intensification	Intensification of production from existing grazing lands may involve pasture improvement, soil nutrient deficiency correction, direct animal nutritional supplementation, genetic improvement of livestock, better animal husbandry and better management of diseases and pests.
inbreeding	Process of mating closely related animals (sires and daughters/granddaughters, sibling mating) which eventually increases genetic characteristics which often reduces production potential.
indigenous knowledge	Refers to important information and problem-solving skills developed over time within rural communities, which are essential for farming system improvement and may not be widely known outside such communities.
inter-cropping	The cropping of two or more species on the same area of land, one usually with a height advantage (for example, coconuts and cocoa, bananas and taro, maize and cucurbits).
lamb/mutton flaps	High fat (75 %) and cheap flesh from underbelly of lambs and mature sheep consumed widely by Samoans, Tongans, Fijians and Papua New Guineans.
land-use planning	The systematic assessment of physical, social and economic factors which assists land users to select production options which are sustainable and which meet their needs.
legume	Important pasture component involving group of dicotyledenous plants with creeping, climbing, shrub or tree- like habits which fix atmospheric nitrogen.
live weight gain	Growth in biomass of animals usually referred to in grams or kilograms LWG/head/day.
livestock subsector	Component or subsector of an agricultural sector.
megajoule/kg	Basic energy unit of animal feed value: good pastures have 9 MJ/kg, maize grain has 13–14 MJ/kg, and heavily shaded grass may have only 6 MJ/kg.
metabolisable energy	The proportion of total energy intake that can be utilised by livestock for body maintenance and production - meat. milk, eggs etc.
Melanesian Spearhead Group	An inter-government trade group from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji which allows specified member imports without duty.
molasses	High energy, high mineral but low protein by-product of sugar production.
oversowing	The process of introducing new legumes and/or grasses into an existing pasture.
overstocking	The process of grazing where animal demand for feed exceeds the regrowth capacity of pastures. This leads to inadequate daily feed intake, loss in animal production (per head and per hectare) and environmental degradation.
para-veterinarian	Professional with a sound understanding of how to manage basic animal health problems who works with a qualified veterinarian.
pasture ley	Pasture leys are short-term legume or legume/grass combinations which follow a cropping phase for sufficient time to rebuild soil organic matter levels and other soil fertility attributes whilst achieving income from livestock production. This contrasts with pure legume, grass or regrowth fallows with no livestock usage.
plantation	System of land use involving non-customary but leased or freehold land, clearly defined boundaries, organised management, paid labour, commercial goals and above average areas of land. Usually, no more than three production enterprises are involved.
PRA	Participatory rural appraisal - process of community-based interview and discussion establishing and recording community defined problems and constraints, perceived solutions and programmes of action.
reafforestation rehabilitation	Replanting trees for future utility or commercial value. Process of steadily reducing natural or man-made factors such as low natural soil fertility, weed infestations or soil erosion, which are limiting agroecosystem productivity.
ruminant	Species such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer and buffalo which possess four stomach compartments which allow the digestion and utilisation of plant materials high in cellulose and lignin, which are less able to be efficiently used by non- ruminants (single-stomach animals) such as pigs, chickens, rabbits and horses.
shade tolerance	Ability of some grasses and legumes to grow adequately under various levels of shade.
silvopastoralism	A component of agroforestry which involves the deliberate management of livestock and trees simultaneously or sequentially on the same area of land, for example, cattle under coconuts.
silage	The fermented product made by enclosing and compacting plant material of high energy and protein value in an air-tight environment (underground pits, above ground bunkers, plastic bags). It is later fed to livestock, mainly ruminants, during periods of feed shortage.
slaughterhouse	A small hygienic livestock killing facility in provincial areas, usually without refrigeration.
smallholder	Members of a rural household or a group of households operating a particular farming system, usually on traditional land, whose land use and production technologies range from traditional to a mix of traditional and contemporary.
stocking rates	The number of grazing animals per unit area expressed in animals or animal units.
subsistence	Farming and fishing to meet the daily living needs of households.
supplementation	The specific feeding of concentrated nutrients which are inadequately supplied in common forages.
sustainability	The capacity to continue undiminished over time: for example, maintaining farming practices, social and cultural stability, environmental quality production and economic viability to ensure the needs of rural communities are met on a long-term basis.
tuberculosis	Disease of the respiratory system of cattle and pigs which can infect humans.
turkeys' tails	High-fat parts of turkeys usually imported from the United States by some South Pacific countries.
VAM	Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae, fungi which attach to plant roots, especially those of trees, and increase the nutrient absorption capacity (particularly in the case of phosphorus), allowing growth in less fertile soils.
weeds	Plants growing in sufficient quantities in subsistence and commercial agricultural areas which cause loss of food security or economic returns. A weed in one situation could be a valuable crop in another, for example, guava.
zero-till	Mechanical technique of planting, at controlled depth, improved legumes and grasses into existing pastures. Herbicides are usually applied along strips into which the seeds are planted.

Southwest Pacific

Executive summary

Summary

This book describes the current status of forage-based livestock systems in the Southwest Pacific. It also outlines practical techniques which are available for improving livestock production while maintaining, improving or rehabilitating the environmental quality of grazing systems.

It describes strategies to provide better support to farmers and the potential for realistic production improvement given specific assumptions of institutional support and farmer adoption over a 15 to 20 year period, as well as the likely social, economic and environmental benefits. A brief analysis of the successes and failures of past development assistance is used to guide recommendations for future support.

1 Overview of grazing livestock systems

The major livestock producing countries in the Southwest Pacific (Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu) support about 6 million people including 760 000 rural households. With subsistence and commercial livestock raised by 65% of these rural households, livestock are an integral part of Southwest Pacific farming systems.

Livestock provide rural households with many important benefits such as consumption of animal proteins as meat or milk, income flows and capital reserves, social status, weed control in a range of cropping systems, transport and drought power. Prices for livestock products are less variable than for commercial crops and their production is less adversly affected than crops by drought, cyclones, pests and diseases.

Southwest Pacific livestock subsectors are predominantly smallholder based. Smallholders may be subsistence, partly commercial or highly commercial in their approach to managing livestock. Though the relative importance of large commercial plantations is declining, there are increasing examples of cooperation between plantations and their surrounding smallholders, with clear mutual benefits such as employment, technology transfer, enhanced volumes to market, and better market access.

Recent experience in livestock system extension and training support projects indicates that Pacific farmers are willing to change their system management when a 50% productivity improvement or a 50% lowering in costs can be demonstrated. Most livestock owners have paid for their major capital investments, and for modest additional investment, improvements in the productivity of grazing systems in the order of 50–300% are attainable.

While ruminant livestock are numerically less significant than small, non-ruminant livestock, they have a significant potential to increase smallholder incomes through the adoption of proven practices in pasture improvement, grazing system management and animal husbandry. However, both intensive and extensive pig and poultry production would also benefit from improved feeding and management such as making better use of local stockfeeds and quality forage legumes in diets.

Currently, 867 000 ha or 1.6% of total land area in the major producing countries is devoted to grazing. This represents 46% of all currently used agricultural land, comprising arable (annual, perennial and tree crops) and pastoral land (FAO 1997).¹. There is a significant scope for intensifying production from existing grazing lands and under-utilised non-grazed areas, without compromising other land uses such as inter-cropping.

2 Increasing livestock production through proven on-farm technologies and practices

Major opportunities exist for Southwest Pacific Farmers to improve their livestock production through the use of proven, cost-effective technologies and basic husbandry practices in regard to watering, shelter, parasite management, dehorning and castration, breeding and other factors.

The potential for ruminant (cattle, sheep, goats) and village-based non-ruminant (pigs, poultry and horses) production and performance in terms of growth, reproduction, lactation and draught power is largely determined by the quantity and nutritive quality of daily forage consumption. Practical agronomic approaches to maximising the quantity of feed consumed, its nutrient content and its digestibility include the use of high-yielding and high nutritive value grasses and legumes, and the correction of soil fertility constraints where neccessary and where economic. Where nutrients are not optimally provided by native or introduced forages, direct supplementation of animals has an important role.

Historically, mismanagement of livestock in specific localities - in particular, overgrazing - has been partly responsible for destabilising land surfaces and weed ingress. However, there are proven pasture and grazing management technologies which can rehabilitate or improve existing grazing lands and weed-infested ungrazed lands in various states of degradation. Sustainable grazing management systems emphasise the importance of ecologically sustainable stocking rates, weed control and catchment management.

The grazing system technologies available are environmentally positive, affordable and profitable. In environments which are economically and environmentally suited to production intensification, technology adopting farmers are able to increase grazing system productivity between 50% and 300%. These technologies, tailored to different farmer resource levels and capabilities, are relevant to farmers of any level, from subsistence to highly commercial.

3 Providing better support to livestock farmers

In addition to technologies and practices, a range of other factors are important in improving pasture-based animal production in subsistence and commercial farming systems. These include the skills and training milieu, accessibility of resource inputs, technology improvement through applied research, marketing opportunities, and the government policy environment.

¹ If agricultural fallow lands are included, the livestock component falls to an estimated 26%.

Extension delivery and farmer training can be improved through recognising the importance of farming system approaches, strengthening and streamling institutions, improving management systems, establishing better on-farm demonstrations and information materials support, improving communications, and optimising and efficiently using existing human and physical resources. Adoptive farmers who are leaders in the community have a pivotal role in establishing and promoting better agricultural practices among active farmer groups.

Increased production also depends on increased availability to farmers of resource inputs such as planting materials and mechanised services (where appropriate), agricultural credit, nutritional supplements, tropically adapted breeding animals, better transport, problem-solving research and monitoring programmes and better marketing.

Government also has a key role to play in enhancing the livestock subsectors of the region. Animal production system performance at the household, district, provincial or national level is significantly affected by factors such as international exchange rate controls and government policies reflected in comparative deregulation or protection, interest rates, and tariffs and duties on imported livestock products and production inputs. In the Southwest Pacific improving the capacity for efficient and internationally competitive alternative enterprises, including livestock, is essential if rural household welfare is to be enhanced or even maintained.

4 Regional potential for enhanced production

Estimates of the potential for improving livestock production in the major producing countries are based upon the longer term benefits emerging from AusAID, UNDP and FAO supported livestock subsector projects over the last decade and the combined experience of regional livestock specialists. Based on this experience, projections in this document assume that 50% of farmers adopt promoted technologies over a 15 to 20 year period. They also assume effective development assistance and ongoing in-country support, improved marketing opportunities, responsive government policies, and a continuing positive market for livestock products.

It is estimated that regional carrying capacity could approximately double and that animal production capacity could increase by approximately 250%. This could be achieved by improving approximately half of the existing 887 000 ha grazing resource and by bringing 327 000 ha of new lands into production. Such new lands would comprise unused native pasture areas, ungrazed coconut lands which are not inter-cropped and some regrowth bush and vine-dominated areas.

Currently, the region imports livestock products valued at approximately US$158 million (CIF) annually. These include beef, sheep meat (mainly high-fat content lamb/mutton flaps), pig meat, poultry, canned meat, milk and milk products. Overall, it is estimated that the seven major livestock producing countries would achieve self-sufficiency gains of US$38.2 million (m) per year in import substitution and between US$4m and $10.4m per year in increased exports. Potential achievements over a 15 to 20 year period, using 1994–1995 import figures as benchmarks include:

1. regional self-sufficiency in beef production at 1994–1995 import levels;

2. a doubling of beef exports for Vanuatu, with a possibility of exportable surpluses from New Caledonia;

3. modest growth of sheep meat production in Fiji (10% self-sufficiency);

4. milk and dairy product self-sufficiency growth in Fiji (from 39.5% to 65%), milk in Samoa (0% to 50 %), milk in Tonga (30% to 65%), and milk and dairy products in Vanuatu (from 8% to 20%).

Such achievements represent significant benefits at the community and household level. Case studies in the book describe households which have increased grazing enterprise incomes up to three times following short periods of technology adoption. In regional terms it is suggested the mean value of household beef and cattle income could rise from US$466 to $1356 over a 15 to 20 year period in current dollar terms. Using high-quality legumes in the diets of household pigs and poultry along with improved basic husbandry could improve domestic protein supplies by at least 25% with significant nutritional benefit, at the same time generating cash and/or saving disposable income on canned meats.

In addition, the use of appropriate tree, shrub and herbaceous legume technology over the described period has the potential to improve soil fertility, reduce erosion and reduce weed control inputs, thus sustaining subsistence garden yields over a calculated 15 000 ha. Carefully integrating improved grazing management with cash crop and forestry has benefits for crop/timber production yields over a projected 34 000 ha. Adopting technologies will increase household production and incomes from dairy, small ruminant, pig and poultry and pasture seed production enterprises which are frequently managed by women.

5 Learning from past development assistance experience

The relative importance of the economic contribution made by the livestock subsectors is not reflected in the resources allocated by national governments and development assistance agencies to livestock extension and development in the region. In part, some negative influence might still exist from the limited successes of some inappropriate interventions from the 1960s to the early 1980s. Decision makers may also be insufficiently aware of the many successes for households and farmer groups which have arisen from the new style of farming system-oriented, livestock extension and training projects implemented during the 1980s and 1990s, and of the range of proven technologies which enhance and sustain forage-based livestock production in the region.

Development assistance projects have been successful where:

1. governments have had consistent livestock subsectors strategies, and support has been carefully targeted;

2. strategies have addressed real rural community needs and built upon existing livestock enterprises within farming systems;

3. they have been designed with adequate resources and implementation times, and executed by national and international staff and consultants with technical, socio-cultural and managerial experience who have worked closely with their stakeholders.

There is a strong support within governments and communities in the region for the achievements of recent national and regional projects to be a foundation for further effort.

6 Continuing development assistance

To achieve the attainable levels of livestock product self-sufficiency and domestic food security which have been discussed, an integrated regional programme of development assistance is required. This would improve sustainable commercial animal production from significant pasture/forage systems in Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. Each country programme would have specifically designed in-country components involving:

• regional farmer and livestock extensionist training programmes;

• extension support programmes involving on-farm demonstrations, that benefit rural communities;

• farmer group training and field day activities;

• distribution and use of effective information materials;

• improvement of critically limiting development and marketing services.

The relative importance of each of these components would vary from country to country. The human resources and demonstrated best farmer practice of some leading countries would provide regional training opportunities for farmers and livestock extensionists from minor livestock producing states.

Seventeen other important initiatives which would have direct or indirect positive impact on Southwest Pacific livestock production have also been detailed and prioritised in Chapter 6. They cover the development of livestock strategy and policy, institutional and private sector human resource capability, survey and monitoring systems, agricultural extension systems, community awareness and livestock product marketing.