The Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Waterways, Dr Andrew Tukana during his official welcome, advised officers to work together and smarter as the way forward.

The PS thanked the Minister and staff for believing in his expertise and experience to make change for the people and urged the staff to help grow the sector. 

"There are areas that require improvement and weaknesses that need to be addressed. We also need to communicate and have dialogues," he explained.

“If we work together, work smart, and focus on self-improvement, we can have a positive impact on our farmers and stakeholders.

Dr Tukana is not new to the Ministry, he served as a Senior Agricultural Assistant from 1993 to 1998, moved up to Agricultural Officer from 1999 to 2005, acquired the role of Senior Agricultural Officer from 2006 to 2007 and later served for 10 years with the Pacific Community (SPC).

He also attained various academic qualifications in the course of his career.

Considering the Ministry's budget increase for the financial year 2023-2024, he encouraged officers to take ownership of their individual work.

He stated that the improvement of value chains and the transformation of the food system are necessary.

“We must focus on reducing the production cost of food systems. This can lead to the availability of food in all sectors of life. Our focus should be on efficiently and sustainably utilizing the allocated funds,” he added.

He also reminded staff to be mindful of ministry assets while delivering services.

The Principal Research Officer (Agronomy), Amena Banuve, while speaking on behalf of the staff, wished Dr Tukana well in his new role and rendered the support of the ministry staff to the improvement and growth of the agriculture and waterways sectors.

Dr Andrew Tukana is an agriculturalist with a broad range of skills in both crops and livestock sectors.

His expertise lies in livestock health and husbandry methods, which he gained through 15 years of work in the Ministry of Agriculture (previously known as the Ministry of Primary Industries).

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