THE Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) on Tuesday conducted a review of the World Bank-funded Solomon Islands Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SIART) Project implemented by the ministry.
The review was conducted by the project steering committee on Tuesday at the Gina’s Restaurant in Honiara. It was was the steering committee’s third review meeting since the commencement of the project in April 2022.
The USD$15 Million (SBD$124.2 Million) SIART Project is a four-year initiative implemented by the MAL with the crucial objective of increasing agricultural production and improving market access in selected value chain in the three provinces of Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira-Ulawa and how MAL will respond positively and effectively in the case of a crisis or emergency situation.
The project covers four components and these are Agribusiness and infrastructure investments, Institutional capacity development, Project management and Contingent Emergency Response component.
The 3rd steering committee meeting saw presentations and discussions on the status of project and the specific challenges encountered, with the intention of addressing the challenges to ensure the successful completion of the project.
The meeting, attended by MAL and SIART officers, was conducted by the Steering Committee Chairman, MAL Permanent Secretary Dr Samson Viulu along with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration (MCILI), Riley Mesepitu.
According to reports presented at the meeting, the project had withdrawn a total of SBD$35,127,044.95 since its implementation to February 2025 and this translates into a 28 per-cent disbursement rate.
SIART Project Officers anticipate that the disbursement rate will increase significantly in the coming months.
They said the remaining funds under the project is SBD$94 Million and that by June 2026, the project should be scaling down towards its scheduled conclusion in December 2026.
Some of of the key initiatives MAL has been working to achieve under SIART is the establishment of Agriculture Research Centre in Tenaru, Central Guadalcanal, and the refurbishment of the Agriculture Research Centre in Adaliua in Malaita Province.
As discussed during the review meeting, work on the establishment of the proposed Agriculture Research Centre in Tenaru has been a ‘big’ challenge for MAL.
It was discussed that MAL, under the SIART Project, purchased the Agriculture Research Centre site from the Pacific Games National Hosting Authority (NHA) for the sum of SBD$15 Million and furthermore, spent money on relocating the settlers in the land. However, to date, the Agriculture Research Centre is still in the design phase.
On the other hand, the review meeting discussions noted that refurbishment work on the Agriculture Research Centre in Adaliua in Malaita Province has been successfully completed.
Permanent Secretary Viulu, in his remarks, at the review meeting thanked the World Bank for funding the project.
He said the review was important to chart the way forward and that if MAL was to ask for a new phase to the SIART Project from the World Bank, what would be some of the potential areas for consideration in the next phase.
The Permanent Secretary said MAL is faced with many challenges, but is thankful to the World Bank for financing the project, adding that big institutions such as the World Bank have strict criteria for their funded projects and therefore the ministry must comply with these criteria to maintain their trust and confidence.
Solomon Star, Honiara