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  • From: Russ Grayson <pacedge@magna.com.au>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Re: Permaculture on Pitcairn
  • Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 23:02:29 +1000

Regarding the discussion about permaculture on Pitcairn Island:

In the absence of information about talks already held with Pitcairn representatives, I would suggest first of all addressing basic human needs: food security, health services, clean water, shelter, sanitation, security. Without access to these services, further development is unlikely.

Then I would address: economy and livelihood, income generation (in many developing countries cash is necessary for medical services and education) - local markets; education relative to local needs and participation in the global system to the degree desired.

If people want to generate income and foreign exchange then it will be necessary to identify a resource in demand globally that can bear the cost of production and, especially, of transport from an isolated location like Pitcairn. For example, villagers in the Goroko area of the PNG highlands produce organically-grown Arabica coffee in an agricultural system consisting of smallholdings structured with coffee bushes growing below a Casuarina tree canopy (nitrogen-fixing trees). The coffee is bought from growers and roasted, processed and packaged in the highlands before much of it is exported to the Australian organic food market.

Development of an organic commodity requires organic certification to fully access metropolitan markets. Organisations such as NASAA provide this service but, as development professionals have pointed out, the cost of having agricultural products certified organic can be a barrier to developing country farmers wishing to access the Australian or other developed country organic food markets.

Tourism seems an obvious industry but access to Pitcairn would have to be addressed and unique natural and cultural assets identified that could be exploited.

VIABILITY
On the eve of Australian intervention in the Solomon Islands to restore the order that civil society needs to assert a peaceful agenda, an interesting discourse has sprung up in this country regarding our roles and responsibilities in the SW Pacific.

This discourse has seen the questioning of the economic and social viability of some Pacific island states. Some commentators believe that smaller island states do not have the capacity to remain viable. Ideas such as a common SW Pacific currency and shared governmental resources have been proposed but this may be difficult. The alternative is further reliance on the foreign aid of countries like Australia and New Zealand and/ or the devolution of power to armed groups such as happened in the Solomons and, to a limited extent, in PNG.

What I am raising is whether Pitcairn can be a viable entity in anything beyond a subsistence economy. If not, then a possible outcome could be the drain of population to countries that accept immigrants in the same way that Cook islanders and other islanders migrate to New Zealand.

It is attractive to some of us to idealise a subsistence existence but this is not a universal sentiment and many developing country people see economic development or emigration as a means to a better life. Whether that will eventuate is beside the point, but the belief is something that a permaculture-type development approach on Pitcairn may have to deal with.

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Russ Grayson
Media services: journalism-print/ online/ photo
pacedge@magna.com.au Phone/ fax: 02 9588 6931
PO Box 446 Kogarah NSW 2217 Australia
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