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USC in $10 million agribusiness project
23 February 2010
A University of the Sunshine Coast tree scientist is involved in a $10 million Australian project to boost agribusiness in Pacific island countries.
Professor Helen Wallace, whose USC research has already taken her to the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, will help deliver the Pacific Agribusiness Research For Development Initiative.
Dr Wallace said her new research would investigate ways of creating high-value products from canarium, a local tree nut, and local timber such as whitewood and teak.
“Value-adding could include manufacturing timber veneer locally or packaging dried nuts for export, for example,” she said.
“I really enjoy this kind of development research because it can make a big impact on bringing people out of poverty.”
She said it was also prestigious for USC to be one of four Australian universities commissioned by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research for the project.
The Australian Government-funded initiative was announced by the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan.
It will provide $10 million over four years to improve marketing opportunities and agribusiness in the Pacific to help boost island incomes.
Mr McMullan said the project was partly in response to the impacts of the global food crisis and more recent recession.
“It aims to substantially improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, with expansion into Tonga, Samoa and Kiribati,” he said.
“This initiative will make it easier for farmers in the Pacific to get their products to markets. It will enable them to be competitive players in the region whilst ensuring their businesses are sustainable.”
– Julie Gatehouse