Livestock-dominated agriculture

Time has flown by since the last agricultural census was carried out in 2012. What has been observed over the past 12 years is a decrease in the number of farmers and their workforce: according to the Polynesian Statistical Institute (ISPF), in 2023 there are 4,080 agricultural holdings (of which the established production thresholds are met or exceeded). Among these farms are 2,778 breeding farms, 913 farms for breeding and 1,557 farms for raising livestock. These farms employ about 5,050 full-time employees, for a total of 9,570 people. 12 years ago, the workforce numbered slightly less than 15,800 people. The lack of a workforce, which often makes it difficult to carry out tasks such as cultivating the land, affects the development of production.

As a result, plant production has generally declined. The same is true for the copra sector, which perfectly illustrates the situation: despite the presence of 1,557 copra farms, the industry is struggling to maintain adequate production and harvests. Minister of Agriculture Taivini Teai said at this press conference: “Right now, the Tahiti oil mill is not working, it is on standby, it is waiting for copra.” One reason is that young people are abandoning the industry and are more attracted to other less glamorous careers.This is a question mark for elected officials, tāvana… We see young people flocking to Tahiti. Then copra becomes difficult and young people look for other opportunities, such as construction companies that recruit them. So the families working on the copra fields lose valuable labor.”

Unlike culture, Tahitian breeding is stabilizing or even making progress in some areas. Pig farming seems to be favored, with the largest number of pig farms, with 453 pig farms raising 16,000 pigs. The number of cattle, goat and poultry farms has also increased. The number of poultry farms has increased from 55 in 2012 to 126 in 2024, with a total of 254,000 poultry, 87% of which are concentrated in the Windward Islands.

Convincing young people

Another figure that surprised the two ministers was the average age of farmers: 49, with a slight increase in farmers under 40, but also an increase in farmers 60 and over (23% in 2023).Maybe we’re not guiding young people enough into these fields.” The Minister of Economy expressed regret. As Theveni Tye said above, if young people are increasingly fleeing exploitative professions and agriculture in general, it is also because of the image of the profession. It is the image of a rural profession with no way out and no possibility of saving. They think of the profession only as a means of self-sufficiency and cannot imagine a profitable model.

Therefore, the Minister of Agriculture attests, we must fight this false image in order to give the farming profession the social recognition it deserves. “We must provide a vision to young people that agriculture is a job where you can make a contribution. You won’t die in your field! ”, Comic-t-il. “This is one aspect I defend, that we have to give the industry a calmer vision.” On the other hand, a more comforting figure is the feminization of the profession. Of the 4,880 Polynesian farm managers, 31% are women.

Training required

Reading this census, the need for training also seems crucial. If the overall level of training has increased, with 29% of operators saying they had not attended university, compared to almost 50% in 2012 (a figure also reflected in the number of operators who had completed high school and higher education), the figures do not follow in terms of agricultural training. Nearly 91% of operators (usually elderly) learn “on the job”. This prevents them from fully developing their farms and trying other agricultural systems with greater technological content. However, 17% of them have at least one continuing training in the agricultural field or related to their profession (accounting, management, etc.).