By Mary Lyn Fonua

To reduce rural poverty in Tonga there is still a lot more work to do, particularly in the outer islands, IFAD's Asia Pacific regional director Ms Hoonae Kim said after her first visit to the country this week.

After visiting the outer islands of Ovaka, Taunga, Matamaka, Hunga and Lape on September 8, she announced that the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is expanding its activity in the Pacific and would continue to work in Tonga and elsewhere.

“Reducing rural poverty and improving livelihoods in the rural space is our mandate,” she said. “So our project objective is to continue to improve livelihoods in remote areas, and add to that reducing the vulnerability impact of climate change by giving them the knowledge and tools to cope better and to protect their productive assets better.”

Ms Kim, who has worked in 70 countries, said she saw challenges in Vava'u after travelling by boat between the islands and meeting with community members on Monday.

“In the outer islands their people are poor, but what I did not see was absolute hunger. I saw other types of challenges such as access to fresh water. Therefore poverty reduction in a place like Tonga and in an outer island appears to be not just the quantity of the food, it is the access to basic services.

“The electricity seems to be doing better through the solar panels. I think the water supply, and we hear this through all the villages we visited, that is top of their priorities and their constraint, especially after six months of long drought...I think the problem is much more acute and it was really a serious issue.

“We hope to look with government whether there is a technology solution, whether it is an institutional solution, or drilling a well - whatever it takes, I think we need to look into that,” she said.

MORDI

IFAD, headquartered in Rome, Italy, is a financier that implements projects through Tonga's national agency MORDI Tonga Trust with guidance and strategic direction of the government. IFAD also supports the Tongan Rural Innovation Project (TRIP), providing a multi-million grant to improve sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable rural communiites. About 70 per cent of Tonga's population lives in rural areas where employment opportunities are few, access to markets is limited and transportation costs are high.

“It was really heartwarming to see from their own words how government support together with IFAD has helped improve their livelihoods and food security. But there is still a lot more to do,” Ms Kim said.

“In Tonga we have an active programme, which started with a grant and now a loan. We would like to stay engaged not just financing support but also strategic investment, working with multiple ministries and the private sector.”

Links will be established with commercial banks to provide critical financing to agriculture enterprises and rural businesses to stimulate investment in rural economies.

Ms Kim said that in creating a sustainable finance system, “the commercial bank has a role, government has a role, microfinance institutions have a role, and there are different models involved...We have experience and would like to bring those operational tools to Tonga,” she said

“We have a regional grant and look into some innovative way of addressing very specific issues that Tonga has such as improving logistics of moving goods and people between the outer islands, so there are some of the things that we are looking into beyond financing, but we are here to stay,” said Ms Kim.

Tatafu Moeaki, the CEO for the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, while admitting that “to some extent the direct assistance of government falls short”, said that Tonga was very excited with the progress and successful partnership with IFAD and civil society organisation. “But more importantly the winners of this engagement are the communities in the outer islands,” he said.