Vanuatu has taken a significant step towards strengthening digital agriculture with the official handover of the Vanuatu Digital Farmer Registry (DFR) to the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu.
The handover took place at the Holiday Inn in Port Vila, where the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) formally transferred the Digital Farmer Registry to the Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Biosecurity (MALFB).
The event also marked the official launch of a new national FAO-supported project, TCP/VAN/4101 – “Strengthening Digital Agriculture and Innovation for Food Security and Nutrition in Vanuatu.”
The ceremony brought together representatives from MALFB, the Vanuatu Primary Producers Authority (VPPA), the Department of Communication and Digital Transformation (DCDT) and FAO. Key speakers included the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Biosecurity, Ian Wilson Toakalana, MALFB Director-General Timothy Tumukon, DCDT Director John Jack, FAO Assistant Representative in Vanuatu Graham Nimoho, VPPA Chief Executive Officer Mark Bebe, and FAO Young Professional Officer Ruobin Wu.
Agriculture plays a critical role in Vanuatu, supporting more than 80 percent of Ni-Vanuatu households across more than 80 islands. However, agricultural planning has traditionally relied on periodic surveys and paper-based records maintained separately by different agencies.
The Digital Farmer Registry is designed to help address these challenges by providing a centralized digital system for registering farmers and maintaining information that can support better planning, service delivery and decision-making.
The Registry is identified as a foundational system supporting key government initiatives, including the Island Focus Initiative and the Farm to Public Institutions Programme, as well as the National Gudfala Kakae Policy 2017–2030.
One of the key achievements of the handover is the transfer of full national ownership of the Digital Farmer Registry to the Government of Vanuatu.
Under the arrangement, the complete source code, mobile application, technical documentation, user manuals and intellectual property are transferred to the Government at no licence cost as an open Digital Public Good.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Biosecurity will own the system and its data, VPPA will operate the Registry, while DCDT will host the system on Government servers. The arrangement is designed to support Vanuatu's data sovereignty and is aligned with the Data Protection and Privacy Act No. 13 of 2024. The advisory states that no third party will have access to farmer data.
The Registry is also intended to become a foundation for digital services across the agricultural sector. Once farmers are registered, their information can support programmes such as Island Focus targeting, Farm to Public Institutions supply, disaster response and food reserves, climate early warning, agricultural extension services, and more targeted assistance and social protection.
The Digital Farmer Registry has been developed with Vanuatu's unique geographical challenges in mind. The system includes web, mobile and offline-first functionality, allowing officers to register farmers in areas where internet connectivity may be limited or unavailable. The Ministry will also be able to adapt forms and modules as its requirements evolve without requiring new software development.
The Registry was developed in Vanuatu through collaboration between FAO, MALFB and VPPA from mid-2025 to early 2026. It underwent user testing between February and April 2026, followed by a deployment clinic in May and Training of Trainers activities for national administrators, enumerators and trainers during June and July 2026.
The official handover also marks the beginning of a new phase of digital agriculture development through TCP/VAN/4101, which will run from August 2026 to July 2028. The project will work with MALFB, VPPA and the Vanuatu National Statistics Office to strengthen the capacity of at least 70 officers and stakeholders, with at least 30 percent women. It also aims to register or update at least 1,000 Island Focus farmers, support zoning and mapping in at least two priority areas, and pilot a digital market linkage between farmers and public institutions.
The next stage will see the Digital Farmer Registry fully deployed on Government servers in collaboration with Department of Communications & Digital Transformation. FAO will continue providing technical assistance and capacity development as Vanuatu expands the use of the system. The country's progress in digital agricultural transformation is also expected to be showcased at the Pacific SIDS Solutions Forum in November 2026.
The handover of the Digital Farmer Registry represents an important milestone in Vanuatu's transition towards more coordinated, data-driven and digitally enabled agricultural services, providing a foundation for Government to better understand the farming sector and strengthen support to farmers across the country's islands.