Vanuatu will become a member of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD).

The membership was approved recently by the Council of Ministers.

This follows a policy paper presented by the Minister of Agriculture, Steven Kalsakau.

Vanuatu’s membership fee is over VT500, 000.

Four senior officers from the Lands Department were suspended recently by the Public Service Commission.

Public Service Commission chairman, Sam Dan Avock says their suspension followed some research made by the Ministry of Lands.

Mr Avock says a team will be appointed to investigate the allegations against the four officers.

Australia is to help boost plantation forestry in Vanuatu.

Production of plantation-grown whitewood and sandalwood is set to increase in Vanuatu as a result of a new Australian Government-funded forestry project that is to develop and distribute faster growing trees with higher quality timber to boost grower returns and export income.

Australia’s High Commissioner to Vanuatu, Pablo Kang, and Vanuatu Minister for Agriculture, and Forestry, Steven Kalsakau, today signed the new project.