Great news for Nakita Farmers Cooperative in Togobula Village and the Deepak Cooperative in Maro Village as they have been provided with a tractor each as part of the government’s assistance to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
While handing over the tractors in Sigatoka, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperative, MSMEs and Communications, Manoa Kamikamica highlighted that the Fiji Government has provided the highest support to MSMEs with close to $120 million allocated across various sectoral ministries.
He says Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are essential to Fiji with their contributions spanning job creation, livelihood support, and supply chain development.
Kamikamica adds that the Ministry responsible for MSMEs was allocated a budget of $4 million, which includes a newly introduced programme for Cooperatives.
Chairman of Nakita Farmers Cooperative, Rupeni Qaraniqio expressed his gratitude for the support from the government, the Cooperatives Department, the Provincial Council of Nadroga and Navosa, the District Officer's Office, and the Fiji Development Bank.
Qaraniqio says he started with basic farming tools to manually plough and till the land and now, with the new machinery, they have been able to plant 10 lines of cassava, watermelons, and other vegetables, significantly increasing their farm yield.
He noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, they managed to yield 70 bags of produce, and with the new equipment, they hope to surpass that number. Kamikamica says the government's investment in MSMEs, particularly through providing essential machinery, is expected to further strengthen the sector's capacity to contribute to sustainable and resilient economic growth in Fiji.
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