Editing Tonga (section)

=== Agriculture ===
In Tonga, agriculture and forestry (together with fisheries) provide the majority of employment, foreign exchange earnings, and food.<ref name="Halavatau">{{Citation|author1=Halavatau, S. M.  |author2=Halavatau, N. V.  |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Food Security Strategies for the Kingdom of Tonga |series=Working Paper number 57 |publisher=United Nations Centre for Alleviation of Poverty Through Secondary Crops' Development in Asia and the Pacific (CAPSA) |url=http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/32700/1/wp010057.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910175806/http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/32700/1/wp010057.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kunzel">{{Citation|author=Kunzel, W. |year=1989 |title=Agroforestry in Tonga: A Traditional Source for Development of Sustainable Farming Systems |series=Occasional Paper 12 |location=[[Armidale, New South Wales]]|publisher=South Pacific Smallholder Project, [[University of New England (Australia)|University of New England]] }}</ref> Rural Tongans rely on both [[plantation]] and [[subsistence agriculture]]. Plants grown for both market [[cash crop]]s and home use include bananas, [[coconut]]s, [[coffee bean]]s, [[vanilla bean]]s, and [[root crops]] such as [[cassava]], [[sweet potato]], and [[taro]]. {{As of |2001}}, two-thirds of agricultural land was in root crops.<ref name="Halavatau" />

The processing of coconuts into [[copra]] and [[desiccation|desiccated]] (dried) coconut was once the only significant industry, and only commercial export. Deteriorating prices on the world market and lack of replanting brought this once vibrant industry, as in most island nations of the South Pacific, to a complete standstill.

Swine and poultry are the major types of livestock. Horses are kept for draft purposes, primarily by farmers working their'' ʻapi ʻuta'' (a plot of bushland); though the [[horse meat#Tonga|meat]] is also coveted.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Daly |first=Martin |title='How Valuable a Horse Would Be Here': The Introduction of the Horse to Tonga |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |date=Sep 2003 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=269–274 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25169643 |issn=0022-3344}}</ref> More cattle are being raised, and beef imports are declining.<ref name="b1">{{Cite book|editor=Ellicott, Karen |title=Countries of the world and their leaders yearbook 2007|url=https://archive.org/details/countriesworldth00muec |url-access=limited |year=2006|publisher=Thomson Gale|location=Farmington Hills, MI|isbn=978-0-7876-8103-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/countriesworldth00muec/page/n1876 1873]}}</ref>

The traditional feudal land ownership system meant that farmers had no incentive to invest in planting long-term tree crops on land they did not own. In the late 20th century, kava and vanilla from larger plantations became the main agricultural exports, together with squash.<ref name="Halavatau" /> The export of squash to Japan, beginning in 1987, once brought relief to Tonga's struggling economy, but local farmers became increasingly wary of the Japanese market due to price fluctuations, and the huge financial risks involved.<ref name="b1" /><ref>Rejects from squash production exceeded 30%. {{Citation|author1=Halavatau, S. M.  |author2=Hausia, S. F.  |name-list-style=amp |year=2000 |title=Small Farmer Participation in Export Production: Kingdom of Tonga Case Studies |location=Apia, Samoa |publisher= FAO Regional Workshop on Small Farmer Participation in Export Production in the Pacific Islands }}</ref>