Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture this week underwent a two-day disaster management response workshop as part of efforts to improve their services in supporting farmer preparedness levels to minimize damages in the event of natural disasters.

While addressing the participants, Ministry of Agriculture Head of Finance Mr. Sikeli Baleisuva acknowledged the support of the Food Security Cluster members, which comprised of representatives from the European Union, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Live and Learn and the FAO, stating their continuous support signified the importance placed upon the agriculture sector.

“As we know, the Cyclone season started on the first of November. We have a La Nina year which means lots of rain which will bring a higher risk of flooding.

Participants also heard that the Fiji Met Service had predicted 2-3 cyclones were likely to pass through Fiji’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) during the 2022-23 cyclone season with 1-2 cyclones likely to reach Category 3-5, accentuating the importance of similar workshops being conducted for first responder agencies to take the necessary steps to mitigate damages wherever possible.

“Fiji’s agriculture sector is devastated by extreme events, at the outset Fiji’s agricultural and fisheries sectors are overwhelmed by natural disasters such as cyclones and flooding. From kava to livestock to fisheries and infrastructure, to drought to pandemics and floods, all of these factors take a toll on the primary industries. It is our duty to ensure we are sustained in such events.

“We need to ensure that our farmers are informed, are taking pro-active steps to address risk and that we as a Government Ministry, and along with our partners are prepared to respond in the event that farmers and rural communities require support,” said Mr. Baleisuva.

“We as a Ministry must ensure that risk is considered in all of our agricultural planning. From farm roads that need to be built on future climate change projections to resilient varieties and breeds to climate-smart agricultural practices,” he said.

The workshop, which was held at the Fiji Meteorological Services office in Vatuwaqa also saw the donation of 10 tablets from the World Food Programme (WFP) to the Ministry of Agriculture to improve connectivity and information systems in the Ministry’s internal processes during disaster management efforts, particularly during damage assessment exercises to ensure efficient and effective information collation.

More than 40 government officials mainly from the Central and Eastern divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture attended the training which concluded earlier this week.

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