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Economics Research Workshop on Pacific Agriculture
16-17 July 2007
The Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University, in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Institute of Papua New Guinea, will be holding an Economic Research Workshop to discuss various aspects of the development of agriculture in the Pacific. The rationale for the Workshop is the belief that agriculture should be able to play a much greater role in raising the living standards of the peoples of the Pacific island countries, especially the vast majority who earn their livelihoods from agricultural production.
It is planned that the Workshop will cover the following important topics:
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Estimates of agricultural productivity growth and how best to increase agricultural productivity; the impact of government policies, especially in the areas of pricing and marketing, on agricultural development.
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The roles of infrastructure and R&D policy in agricultural development.
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Cash crop versus food crop production.
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Estate farming versus smallholder agriculture
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Possibilities for product differentiation to develop niche markets
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The development of supply chains
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Development of the capacity of the agricultural sector to service the growing domestic tourist market
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Development of export markets, including meeting health and safety standards.
It is intended that selected papers from the Workshop will be published in a special issue of the Pacific Economic Bulletin.
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