3 December, 2010—New Zealand’s Recognized Seasonal Employer program was launched in 2007 with an explicit focus on development in the Pacific alongside the aim of benefiting employers at home. It initially allowed up to 5,000 seasonal workers to come to New Zealand for a maximum of seven months per 11 month period to work in the horticulture and viticulture industries.

Vanuatu and Tonga supplied the most workers under the scheme in the first two seasons: 3590 workers in the case of Vanuatu and 1971 from Tonga (including return workers). A multi-year prospective evaluation allows measurement of the impact of participation in this program on households and communities in both these countries.

The authors find that the Recognized Seasonal Employer program has indeed had largely positive development impacts. It has increased income and consumption of households, allowed households to purchase more durable goods, increased the subjective standard of living, and had additional benefits at the community level. In both countries, households became more likely to have a bank account, likely reflecting more formal savings. It also increased child schooling in Tonga. This should rank it among the most effective development policies evaluated to date.

The policy was designed as a best practice example based on lessons elsewhere, and now should serve as a model for other countries to follow.