The University of Exeter in collaboration with research efforts involving Fiji, Philippines, Dominica, and St. Lucia with FRIEND Fiji and the University of the South Pacific has launched a Global Community Food for Human Nutrition and Planetary Health to support Global Health Research in small islands targeting the province of Rewa, Tailevu and Naitasiri in Fiji.
The Minister for Agriculture, Vaitimi Rayalu says, Food security has faced anonymous challenges such as rapid occurrence of natural disasters and rise in sea levels which causes intrusion of salt waters to the areas producing crops.
He says this challenges are not faced only in Fiji but throughout the region.
The Minister also says with rising population and the accompanying problem is NCD'S such as malnutrition, diabetes, cardiology, a common issue that children suffer is from anemia as 80% children have iron.
Rayalu says the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways, are doing all possible ways to address the concerning issues as they want the country to produce as much as crops it can, to oversee there are ample food production for consumption and also for exportation.
Meanwhile the Communications Officer for FRIEND Fiji Margaret Seruvatu, says they will focus on traditional crops for Food and Nutrition diversity to combat the increasing NCDs and Nutritional challenges that the communities are facing.
The project is funded by the UK's National Institute of Health Research.
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