ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the issues in food and agricultural development in the Pacific Basin countries in the decade ahead. It outlines opportunities for international collaboration in dealing with these issues. The key to maintaining a competitive position in international markets is a sustained growth in productivity. The importance of initiating and maintaining a process of growth in resource productivity within agriculture is generally recognized. Contrary to the labor "surplus" that was for so long the focal point of two-sector growth models, William H. Nicholls' agricultural surplus refers to production the level required to feed the agricultural population. Food security can be obtained by domestic means, such as by stockpiling grains or other food products, by carrying sufficient foreign exchange reserves to assure that supplies can be acquired on the international market when they are needed, or by pursuing self-sufficiency policies.
