Good leadership is the key to opening up new development opportunities as it commands unity and perseverance.

These were the words by the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Waterways, Honourable Tomasi Tunabuna at the Launch of the Naitauvoli Rural Millionaire Programme in Naitasiri last week.

“I would like to acknowledge the ‘Vanua’ of Naitauvoli and it’s visionary leaders for their foresight in organising a farming programme such as this which will only truly benefit her people and generations to come,” said Hon. Tunabuna.

“The determination by the villagers is indeed commendable as you have truly realised what it is like to toil the land for a living. There are huge dividends for you in the near future and I truly commend you all for your dedication since the inception of the programme,” added Hon. Tunabuna.

Farmer and youth leader Peceli Beranacuruvakatui said that the journey has not been an easy one.

“The idea was born when former Commissioner for the Eastern Division, Mr Luke Moroivalu came to the village in 2019 to persuade us to venture into this program.”

“He encouraged us to refrain from moving to the towns and cities but to build up our livelihoods through farming. The idea of developing this program here in Naitauvoli materialized after it eventuated in Sawaieke, Gau in the Lomaiviti province soon after cyclone Winston in 2016,” said Mr Beranacuruvakatui.

“We now have four clusters in our youth group and we have all been utilising our respective mataqali land simultaneously. The land across the river is owned by other villages and our youths have also been farming on that land” he said.

“We are grateful to the Coalition Government for the level of support that have been shown to us and we thank the Ministry of Rural and Maritime, Ministry of I-Taukei Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways for their input and technical advice which we wholeheartedly grasped and ran with it till today. We now see the fruits of our labour and know that we can build on it for our future generation,” he smiled.

Youths were organised in their respective clusters to plant 500 yaqona plants on an annual basis so by the end of the fifth year they should have been able to have already planted 2500 yaqona plants under their individual care” he said.

Youth farmers were given targeted outcomes to achieve after five years and one of the common one that they all agreed to was the construction of their respective houses.

“The success of this program will enable us to achieve our dreams of owning our own homes and also supporting the future of our children through quality education,” added Mr Beranacuruvakatui.

The villagers acknowledged the Vanua, government and especially the church for the spiritual guidance which enabled them to reach this far in their quest for food and income security.

“It is only right that the first harvest is presented back to the church and we firmly believe that everything will fall into place from here on.”

With the number of yaqona plants on the ground, it is envisaged that the farmers of Naitauvoli will be harvesting around 16,000 yaqona plants on an annual basis for the next five years.

“We have encouraged our farmers to be resilient in the face of adversity and to always look at the bigger picture and what we are striving for,” added Mr Beranacuruvakatui.

Hon. Tunabuna encouraged the villagers to continue to rise above all the challenges and believes that their hard work will certainly pay dividends for years to come.

“The underlying responsibilities of the Coalition Government is clear as it is mapped out through various ministries and its programmes to continue to grow our support services to the rural communities. The Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways is looking at increasing our budget in the next financial year and this is all in a bid to help our farming communities to grow and expand so that we are able to stabilise our families and the nation as a whole,” added Hon. Tunabuna.

“I would like to challenge you as resources owners to continue to utilise the land so that together we lift the standard of living in our rural villages and communities. I would also like to encourage all Fijians who have land, to consider farming for a living. You cannot go wrong if you decide to toil the land as you will continue to have food and income security for your family,” said Hon. Tunabuna.

“The yaqona market is still growing and expanding and I urge you all to not wait around but to start farming. Visit our agriculture stations across Fiji and seek their advice on your options.”

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