Tonga Agriculture Profile 2012

AGRICULTURE

Tonga is very much an agricultural society and has a history of supplying Pacific neighbours such as Australia and New Zealand with agricultural exports that goes back many decades. It is estimated that 30% of Tonga’s workforce is employed in the farm sector.
Under the country’s Constitution, males at the age of 16 are entitled to a grant of an 8-acre ‘tax allotment’ in the countryside (in addition to some town land) on which to grow crops for their families. Thus, there is a tremendous degree of agricultural expertise and knowledge in the islands—one reason why over 1500 Tongan farm workers were welcomed in 2009 by Australia’s and New Zealand’s seasonal labour schemes.
Most Tongan families therefore still grow their own crops, including cassava, coconut, taro, kava, yams, breadfruit and watermelon.

As the 2008 Asian Development Bank report Transforming Tonga noted, ‘Tonga has a good growing climate and is well-placed geographically to serve winter markets in both the southern and northern hemispheres.’
‘We can grow anything if we have the right market,’ notes Paul Taumoepeau, President of the Tonga Chamber of Commerce. ‘Soils are very good, especially on [the main island of] Tongatapu.’
‘The soil is a lot more fertile than many other places in the Pacific,’ agrees David Edwards, whose company Export Culture, exports yams, taro and cassava to New Zealand under the high profile ‘Kingdom Fresh’ brand.

Low Productivity

Given the natural advantages Tonga has in agriculture, why is Tonga under-producing, to the extent that as much as 60–70% of the country’s available arable land is under-utilised?
There are several answers. Firstly, Tonga currently lacks full access to key markets such as Australia, New Zealand and the European Union (EU) due to biodiversity and quarantine issues. As these first-world markets have been more stringent in the requirements they place on imported agricultural products, so Tongan exports have suffered, with farmers often lacking the expensive packaging and processing plant and equipment necessary to make their crops export-ready.
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Secondly, Tonga currently lacks a sustainable, high-value cash crop. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, that crop was squash pumpkin, thousands of tonnes of which were exported to Japan and Korea. When the squash price fell due to stronger international competition, however, much land was left fallow in the absence of a viable alternative.
Finally, the very smallholder system that has created Tonga’s agricultural expertise tends to mitigate against the creation of larger agribusinesses, which would benefit from economies of scale. For this reason, cooperatives or outgrower programs would seem most suitable models for Tonga.
‘The key to Tonga’s prosperity is to find a product which is economically viable for smaller growers,’ notes Aisake Tu’iono, President and Chairman of the Tonga Growers Federation, which represents 1400 growers across the islands.
high potential
Notwithstanding the hurdles, there are positive signs for Tonga’s farming sector, which has the opportunity not only to export but also, in a country where so many commodities are imported, for import replacement.
Market access should improve once Tonga finalises its Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU—a move that should also benefit fish exports.

Strong capacity

With companies such as Export Culture, Tinopai Farm and Nishi Trading (which exports under the ‘NT Tonga’ brand), Tonga also has exporters with the know-how to brand and market produce overseas, in addition to the capacity to raise export volumes quickly, as Pousima Afeaki of Tinopai Farm, observes:
‘Squash is relatively small now but, between 1989 and 2006, Tonga was shipping its annual crop of 15,000 tonnes in just one month to Japan. Our infrastructure is able to handle that kind of volume,’ he tells Business Advantage. Tinopai Farm exports not only Japanese taro and coconuts, but has also developed an export market for value-added coconut products such as coconut oil moisturiser to Australia and New Zealand.  Coffee and vanilla are just two cash crops with the potential to develop further in Tonga.  In 1999, there was a target of 500,000 to 700,000 trees by 2011/2012, but at the moment that is unlikely,’ notes John Bath of the Tonga Development Bank, which handles the vast majority of loans in the agribusiness sector. ‘Currently, there are about 120,000.

As the result of the investment in the hot air treatment plant, New Zealand recently announced the approval for entry for avocado, breadfruit, chillies, eggplant, mango, papaya and tomatoes. With operators looking to invest further in plant such as post-harvest spraying facilities, fumigation chambers and hot air treatment plants to comply with import regulations, there is evidence that Tonga may begin soon to realise some of its rich potential in agriculture.

FIShERIES

Tonga’s exclusive economic zone stretches over 750,000 square kilometres. Under its laws, only deep water long-line fishing is open to international businesses. Tonga’s fisheries industry has been in decline since its peak at the start of the century. A combination of over-fishing and rising costs has meant most of the country’s fishing fleet is now in port, with less than ten tuna boats currently operating. Even so, Tonga still exports restaurant-quality fish across the region, most notably to Hawai’i (deep water snapper and grouper) and Japan (tuna).

Tyranny of distance
‘Tonga is the least competitive of the region’s fishing industries because it’s the furthest away from markets. It’s therefore hard to invest,’ says Tricia Emberson of Alatini, operator of Tonga’s only operational onshore processing facility and the country’s oldest fishing company.  While it will take time and some inevitable consolidation before Tonga’s fishing industry is back on a solid commercial footing, there are some positive developments, such as trials to develop other deep sea varieties of fish such as blue nose and alfosino, as well as sea cucumber. A recently-created Fisheries Industry Association is also now advising Tonga’s National Economic Development Council, improving the chances of increased synergy between the private and public sector.