Five villages from three districts in the Yasawa group of islands are earmarked to benefit from the Ministry of Agriculture's 'Village Nutrition Security Initiative” as planting materials are being distributed to these maritime villages.
The five villages which include Natawa, Natia, Gunu, Yaqeta and Nabukeru received fruit tree planting materials and home gardening packages.
During the handover ceremony, Assistant Minister for Agriculture Viam Pillay said villages must plant and utilise all the available arable land to maximise their productivity by planting what they can, where they can and when they can but they must maintain their consistency.
He says they have noticed the challenges they are facing in the maritime islands and they are committed to ensuring that nutritional security of Fijians is not one of those challenges, and they will see how best they can address their issues.
>
The program is one of the 16 initiatives launched earlier this year in April by the Minister for Agriculture Mahendra Reddy, which targets 50 villages to be supplied with fruit trees.
The Turaga ni Koro of Natawa Village, Sisa Naibale says the initiative will greatly benefit their future generations.
A delegation of Government officials led by Pillay took planting materials ranging from mangoes, avocado, green pearl guava variety, home gardening packages, pineapple suckers, yam cuttings and vetiver grass to the five villages.
Under the 'Village Nutrition Security Initiative,' the Ministry of Agriculture will provide a set of 3x12 fruit tree seedlings to Fijian villages to meet their nutritional requirements.
