Falklands : Falklands EDS Public Meeting (Part "A")
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 27.08.2009 (Article Archived on 10.09.2009)
A public meeting on Part “A” of the Economic Development Strategy was held in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall at 1700hrs on Wednesday, 26 August 2009. Present on the panel were Roger Spink and Jake Downing as well as Phyl Rendell and Mack MacArthur.
EDS PUBLIC MEETING REPORT (26.08.09)
Part “A”
By J. Brock (FINN)
A public meeting on Part “A” of the Economic Development Strategy was held in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall at 1700hrs on Wednesday, 26 August 2009. Present on the panel were Roger Spink and Jake Downing as well as Phyl Rendell and Mack MacArthur.
Roger Spink acting as Chair welcomed everyone and said the presentation today was a brief run-down of where we are now in the Strategy process, the objective being to develop a sustainable economic future for the Falkland Islands with the public, private and volunteer sections working together so the economy can thrive.
During the series of two public meetings there will be presentations by Agriculture, Tourism (Wednesday) Fisheries and Services (Thursday) sectors. Industry groups are now working together for a deeper understanding of where we are now.
Mr Spink went on to say that it was important to get a wide variety of public views and practical advice to augment the working document.
Phyl Rendell and Mack MacArthur gave a presentation about the current state of Agriculture in the Falklands. They began by saying they compared where our agriculture was compared to worldwide statistics and trends.
Beginning with the meat industry they said that South America was looking at markets in the US but Foot and Mouth Disease was a major draw-back for them but not for us. Also, our lamb industry has good prospects. Our wool industry remains our best money earner with coarser wool being sought after, with 2 Million Kilos worth £2.5 Million. Wool accounts for 80% of earnings from Agriculture. Farmers have been focusing on lowering the micron values but not lower than 22 micron. We have an excellent product with little vegetable matter in wool exported.
The focus for meat is to replace the amount we import with local product.
The Agricultural sector was the largest employer with 160 plus employed contributing £1.8 Million to GDP. The SWAT Analysis was borrowed from the Rural Business Association and Phyl Rendell thanked them for the figures.
Overall good infrastructure and an excellent environment gave Falklands Agriculture a good image. However, there are weaknesses in our acid soil, remoteness from markets, snow cover, labour and low income. It is thought that some of these could change with diversification, new industries and value added products.
Threats were listed as Cost pressures and bio security issues.
Mack MacArthur outlined the lambing percentages at a low 60.9% and the death rate was 12.3%. Farmers are looking for ways to increasing the lambing percent and decrease the death rate in lambs. The acid soil made pasture improvement challenging but it is thought that good ewe nutrition is key to better lambing – and lambs. Farms are going organic
The export of beef has benefited from EU accreditation. With farms going organic there is scope to export organic lamb and beef. Again, it is thought that the local market needs to be targeted to replace imports of the same products.
Also we could raise more potatoes, carrots and other vegetables as well as our own eggs to replace those products that we normally import.
Phyl Rendell said that 14,000 lambs went through the abattoir and that product could be increasingly targeted to the local market.
Emma Edwards asked how we could sustain a wool industry with all those sheep and lambs going through the abattoir.
Mack MacArthur said that with an increased lambing percentage and less lamb mortality we could sustain the numbers. Everybody had to work together to ensure sustainable flocks. Paul Robertson pointed out that numbers were down due to people going out of farming and this has changed the balance as well. Phyl Rendell added that we are turning the corner with sustainability but it will take time.
Emma Edwards said that over the years lambing percentages haven’t changed and that this year’s snow cover means that Ewes are in very poor condition. She said that the Agricultural Department hadn’t turned the Falklands into a “Green and Pleasant land. She questioned the 3% growth and said that people were disheartened and are going to leave farming. She mentioned roads on the West that were severely deteriorated and that couldn’t be used in the winter unless they were frozen. She went on to say that the lack of TV and Radio also contributed to farmers wanting to leave.
John said the point about roads was taken. He went on to say that the abattoir focused on non-breeding stock. He agreed that sheep nutrition and health were important in the production of good lamb.
Emma Edwards continued by saying that fleece weight as well as micron values were going down and this puts the Falklands in competition with Australia and New Zealand – a very poor prospect.
Mack MacArthur emphasised that the ideal for Falklands was 22 Micron due to the need worldwide for coarser wools.
Mike Summers asked if there was a correlation between climate change and changes in the animals.
Mack MacArthur said that no research had been done. He went on to say that the Abattoir had gone from no lambs and little sheep meat to a high volume of both in a short time. He added that we have both a coarse and fine wool industry and in a short time we will have an organic market. He said that diversification gave better opportunities to grow crops and that climate change here could work for our benefit. He alluded to the prospect for monitoring groups working in the Falklands.
Mike Summers asked if any work had been done on compiling whole farm income. Does it cover the cost of operation?
Michael Poole said the figures were not available but would be included ad the Rural Development Strategy progresses.
Mack MacArthur said that individual farmers had that data.
Nuala McKay asked whether there was any chance that wool prices would increase.
Mack MacArthur compared what wool from Australia was doing with what we were doing. He said that in Australia some lambs’ wool could get A$5.00 a kilo but that drought conditions would make that country’s clip miss targets. He expects things to pick up next season.
PHYL Rendell mentioned that the hand out given to those at the meeting had revised figures included but added that some farmers did not send in their returns.
Emma Edwards said that young people were needed in the farming industry and mentioned that people aged 35 to 40 were middle aged.
Phyl Rendell said there were quite a few young people in the North Camp and on the West. She added that many college students attended Farmers’ Week. She agreed that young people were needed in the industry in the Falklands.
Mack MacArthur mentioned that the average age for a farmer in New Zealand was 56/57. 30/40 was considered young. However, the age of a farmer was not a big problem here.
Andrea Clausen mentioned that there was weakness in the land values.
Phyl Rendell mentioned that values had extremes on both the high and low end of the scale.
Andrea Clausen mentioned concerns about selling agricultural land for other purposes.
Sally Ellis asked if we wanted to focus on the local market, would we be taxing imports.
Phyl Rendell said we would be addressing that in part “BE of the meeting to be held on Thursday.
In Part 2 of the Public Meeting Jake Downing presented findings about the tourism industry in the Falklands and compared it to what was happening in the rest of the world. Also he researched how global trends affect the Falklands’ tourism industry.
In 2008 things began well but the credit crunch and SARS sent the industry spiralling downwards.
Tourism has a bright future in that globally it is the fastest growing industry and those trends would be used to assess our benchmark.
We need to maintain tax breaks and increase home tourism. He also mentioned that we need to maximise our use of the internet for bookings and to help people research their holidays.
People are looking for quality and good local interaction.
Key Timelines and Sectors:
In 2007 revenue from tourism in the Falklands reached £6Million from mainly North Americans. A significant proportion also came from the UK. There was a spike in arrivals in 2007 in conjunction with Falklands’25
Domestic tourism produced £1Million from local tourists.
Challenges:
Mr Downing said that we were in early stages of our tourism industry. Infrastructure and availability of capital to create and or improve it was also a challenge. Other challenges are air access, exchange rates and consumer awareness and perception. Also on the list is accreditation, accommodation, transport, public bodies and other services.
Mr Downing went on to say that Falklands’ tourism industry was seasonal and ways to increase its length from four months to longer would have to be found. He also mentioned winter tourism and ensuring that people got good value for money.
Emma Edwards said that we should be cautious about charges for landing passengers. It they are too expensive the ships won’t come in she added. Mr Downing agreed.
It was pointed out that cruise vessels paid fore in fees than fishing vessels and this needed to be rectified. Mr Downing is looking into this.
Mike Summers asked if there was any analysis on land based tourism.
Bird watching was the first (and lasting) significant reason for land based tourism.
Mr Downing said there had not yet been any analysis on land based tourism. He said that he wanted to find out what competing markets were doing.
Sally Ellis pointed out bird watching and photography as attractions for land based tourism. She mentioned that unlike areas in South America, Falklands’ wildlife was more accessible. Birdwatchers had little money but spent every last penny on their hobby she added.
Lewis Clifton mentioned that the average of £49.60 seemed extraordinarily high Mr Downing said that specialist experts had been contracted to carry out the research and had gathered statistics and broken them down. He was fairly confident that the figures were correct.
A mention was made of being more flexible with FIGAS flights in that anyone wanting to go away for the weekend had to take an extra day for the flights. Mr Downing said he would look at it.
Rob McGill said that FIGAS passengers were a major concern for his business on Carcass Island, especially during the forthcoming season.
Roger Spink ended the meeting by encouraging people to come along during part “B” of the meeting and making their feelings and advice known.
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