Australia is developing a partnership with Digicel Fiji in a bid to boost agricultural productivity by improving farmer access to tailored advisory services.
Digicel Fiji CEO Farid Mohammed says, agriculture is essential to Fiji’s people and economy, so they are keen to help improve farmers’ access to relevant and timely information through information communication technology.
He says the findings of the market research will inform the next steps for their collaboration with Australia’s Market Development Facility.
This innovative project hopes to connect farmers to the latest information and advisory services to help boost their productivity.
The project will first undertake market research to determine the information needs of farmers across several regions in the country.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, around 63 percent of Fiji’s 52,000 farmers who participated in the ministry’s 2020 Census owned mobile phones.
This indicates the huge potential to use mobile technology to share important information with a large population of farmers.
Chargé d'affaires at the Australian High Commission John Williams says Australia is investing in foundational work and research to support Fiji’s growing digital economy.
He says access to timely and relevant best practices, improved husbandry practices and weather information contributes to improved productivity and incomes for farming households.
The joint market research is expected to begin in March.
