Just ask any farmer in Samoa and they will tell you the constant damage done to their farms by feral pigs. The feral pigs are one of the reasons why many have abandoned farming.

The danger posed by feral pigs is not to agriculture. Local and regional scientific studies also show that feral pigs threaten native plants, smaller animals and the ecosystem. They are also disease carriers. Eliminating feral pigs is one of the key things that needs to be done to improve the nation’s agriculture and food security.

Feral pigs consume roots, buds, flowers, fruits, and seeds, with a tendency to target the bases of various plant species. This behaviour can lead to the destruction of whole populations of preferred plant foods within certain areas. In the Pacific, pigs cause extensive damage to native plants, subsistence gardens, and crops like cassava, vanilla, kumara, taro, and coconut seedlings.

Feral pigs not only cause economic losses through crop damage and the spread of diseases but also negatively impact tourism in the Pacific islands by damaging resort destinations and residential areas. Agriculture is impacted through pasture and crop damage, as is the exotic forestry sector through the destruction of new plantings, ring-barking, and rubbing – a behaviour to remove skin parasites. Sheep farming is affected when pigs kill newborn lambs and cast pregnant ewes.

It was good to see a team from Samoa travel to Australia to look at how they trap feral pigs. The week-long trip should be a great learning experience and the techniques learnt from this trip have to pay dividends.

Even if this trip is not being funded by the government, this should not be a paid holiday but a trip with a purpose. If feral pigs are one of the biggest threats to food security and agriculture then they must be eradicated.

There is a need for the government and the agriculture ministry to do more. The pig traps that were introduced a few months ago were effective as they were able to trap multiple pigs, however, even for those, we had to rely on donor aid.

If we are serious about getting rid of feral pigs, waiting on donor aid is allowing the feral pigs to increase in population and this means more damage. Agriculture in our nation is in dire straits. The current yield is not enough to sustain the local population and in turn, the reliance on imports is increasing.

The agriculture ministry needs to create a unit responsible for trapping pigs. This will require the government to invest in more traps and manpower to do the task. This will also require investment into vehicles and equipment to kill the pigs.

The unit can be tasked to move all over the islands, setting up traps at different locations and then eradicating the feral pig population. If this is done consistently then there could be success in bringing the feral pig numbers down. This problem cannot be ignored because it is hurting agriculture.

Guns and hunting pigs are not the answer contrary to what the agriculture minister has said. Studies and research shows that traps are the best solution. If we are serious about agriculture, feral pig numbers need to be brought down or even eradicated. It is not something that can wait.

Live capture cage traps are an effective technique for controlling feral pigs, providing sustained effort is put into baiting and checking traps. Results from Australia suggest capture efficacy of traps is moderate to high. In Kosciusko National Park, New South Wales, 62 per cent of feral pigs exposed to traps were captured, and in Central Tablelands, New South Wales, trapping resulted in an 81 per cent reduction of feral pigs, based on spotlight counts.

There are several advantages of trapping compared to poisoning or shooting. Landowner effort can be maintained as they can see the results of their effort, trapped pigs can be used for their meat, it does not noticeably change pig behaviour, it is a flexible method that can be carried out in conjunction with on-farm activities, thereby reducing labour costs associated with control and traps are portable and can be moved and reused in a variety of habitats and seasons, allowing trappers to target pigs as they shift their activity ranges.

Food security is a serious issue and we are not pretty good at it. There is a serious need to think about how we can rely less on imports and have locally produced agricultural products. If agriculture is to be promoted, feral pigs need to be eliminated.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is on hand and we cannot even guarantee the event will use all local products. The feral pig situation requires urgent attention. Guns will never solve the problem and instead contribute to more gun violence.

We need a serious commitment from the government. There has been too much talk, it is time to see some action.