Editing Vanuatu (section)

=== Agriculture ===
[[File:PortVilaMarketHall.jpg|thumb|A market hall in Port Vila]]

Exports include [[copra]], [[kava]], beef, [[Cocoa bean|cocoa]], and timber; imports include machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, and fuels. In contrast, mining activity is very low. Agriculture provides a living for 65% of the population. In particular, production of copra and kava creates substantial revenue. Many farmers have been abandoning cultivation of food crops and use earnings from kava cultivation to buy food.<ref name="Lonely Planet:Vanuatu" /> Kava has also been used in ceremonial exchanges between clans and villages.<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 33&nbsp;– 5.2)</ref> Cocoa is also grown for foreign exchange.<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 49&nbsp;– 7.2)</ref>

In 2007, the number of households engaged in fishing was 15,758, mainly for consumption (99%), and the average number of fishing trips was 3 per week.<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 77&nbsp;– 13.1)</ref> The tropical climate enables growing of a wide range of fruits and vegetables and spices, including banana, garlic, [[cabbage]], peanuts, [[pineapple]]s, [[sugarcane]], [[taro]], [[Yam (vegetable)|yams]], [[watermelon]]s, leaf spices, carrots, [[radish]]es, [[eggplant]]s, [[vanilla]] (both green and cured), [[Black pepper|pepper]], [[cucumber]], and many others.<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 114&nbsp;– table 4.17)</ref> In 2007, the value (in terms of millions of [[vatu]]&nbsp;– the official currency of Vanuatu) for agricultural products was estimated for different products: kava (341&nbsp;million vatu), copra (195), cattle (135), crop gardens (93), cocoa (59), forestry (56), fishing (24), and coffee (12).<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (various pages)</ref>

Raising cattle leads to beef production for export. One estimate in 2007 for the total value of cattle heads sold was 135&nbsp;million vatu; cattle were first introduced into the area from Australia by British planter [[James Paddon]].<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 67&nbsp;– 11.1)</ref> On average, each household has 5 pigs and 16 chickens, and while cattle are the "most important livestock", pigs and chickens are important for subsistence agriculture as well as playing a significant role in ceremonies and customs (especially pigs).<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 73&nbsp;– 12.1)</ref> There are 30 commercial farms (sole proprietorships (37%), partnerships (23%), corporations (17%)), with revenues of 533&nbsp;million vatu and expenses of 329&nbsp;million vatu in 2007.<ref>Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 97&nbsp;– 15.1)</ref>

The [[Vanuatu National Statistics Office]] (VNSO) released their 2007 agricultural census in 2008. According to the study, agricultural exports make up about three-quarters (73%) of all exports; 80% of the population lives in rural areas where "agriculture is the main source of their livelihood"; and of these households, almost all (99%) engaged in agriculture, fisheries and forestry.<ref name="spc.int">Census of Agriculture 2007 (page 18)</ref> Total annual household income was 1,803&nbsp;million [[vatu]]. Of this income, agriculture grown for their own household use was valued at 683&nbsp;million vatu, agriculture for sale at 561, gifts received at 38, handicrafts at 33, and fisheries (for sale) at 18.<ref name="spc.int" />