Yap Summit Community Sector - Yap State Government

YAP STATE GOVERNMENT
• The importance of rethinking prices of local products in their relation to imported food has been
highlighted.
• The creation of a cooperative was recommended to help controlling and matching local products price
needs.
Agriculture # 3: Increased volumes of saleable surpluses to be marketed by the private sector into local and
regional markets.
strong impediments
Positive aspects towards the achievement of the Goal:
• Although informally, small entrepreneurs are already involved in the production of agricultural products
for sale (e.g. tuba, bettlenuts, coconut oil, etc.).
Critical aspects were highlighted that may affect the final achievement of the Goal:
• In targeting the local market, the dilemma is on whether the focus should be on supporting demand or
supply.
• There is a lack of data on agricultural production, both in terms of locally consumed products, and in
relation to small amounts of food informally sent abroad without being recorded.
Recommendations were made to support the achievement of the Goal:
• As for Goal #2, rethink pricing of locally produced products is necessary, to readdress consumers’ choices
and of purchasing imported food. Experimentations have been done in terms of subsidies to support local
production, but were unsuccessful. .
• As for Goal #2, the creation of a cooperative was recommended to help controlling and matching local
products price needs.
• Export solutions and new products should be explored. Bettlenuts and bananas were identified as the
only two sustainable products with value added potential, and with low long term sustainability risk.
• Meat slaughtering should be for local market not for export as there are too many requirements and costs
to export meat products. A decline in imports will be a great achievement per se.
• The potential of new and faster recipes to be made with local products should be explored. The creation
of new local recipes may also support the branding of local products as “niche products”, which may
support their exports.
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