MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MAPS OUT EL-NINO EFFECT RESPONSE PLAN

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is mapping out its El-Nino effect Response Plan.

It is an Agriculture Drought Response Plan (ADRP) providing guidance to the agriculture sector in the event of a drought.

The plan will be part of the overall national Drought Response Plan under the auspices of the National Disaster Risk Management authority.

It will identify the effects of a drought situation on various farming systems such as plantations, small holders, subsistence sector, and livestock.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry Jimmy Saelea told SIBC News, drought is a slow disaster, which gives relevant authorities time to prepare.

Mr Saelea says all aspects of agriculture such as crops and livestock will be affected in a drought situation adding measures to counter this must be put in place in advance.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary adds, agriculture aspects will react differently in a drought situation and the plan will identify what responses can be taken to mitigate or adapt to the situation.

He invites the public to keep listening to the ministry’s weekly Famas Kona Radio Programme through SIBC for more updates.

Meanwhile, USAID C-CAP has completed the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and response planning activities for all of its 10 sites in the country.

A monthly project update from USAID confirmed this week.

It explains, in the next few months, USAID-CAP will help these communities set up their disaster committees and complete their disaster risk mapping.

This will be shared with the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) to ensure that the communities’ plans are aligned with national plans already in place.