Accessing funds for land preparation is a challenge for farmers, and I hope the government will look into this because the farmers are sitting on a gold mine.
This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Crop & Livestock Council (FCLC), Jiu Daunivalu, while sharing the challenges that farmers in the non-sugar sector are facing.
She says they want their farmers to go commercial, but they cannot do that if accessing funds is difficult.
Daunivalu says farmers need funds for land preparations and planting because a lot of iTaukei land is mostly communally owned.
She adds they have submitted their budget to the government and are hoping that it will be taken into consideration.
The CEO says the government of the day and the previous government have not provided full support to the Council even though they were mandated by the government to develop farmers.
She says the council members have grown since she took up the role of CEO in 2016, and now they have more than 8,000 farmers as members.
Daunivalu says through the work of the Council with its respective farm organisations, they drive the change in commercialising farming for the farmers to understand their produce from the day they plant.
She says they are working with farmers in trying to meet the demands of the people, and currently, there is a market for pineapple in New Zealand, where they are working with their pineapple farmers if they can fill a 20-foot tonne container.
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