The Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has made significant strides in supporting farmers, distributing over FJD$18 million to more than 5,000 farmers in the past five years.

This initiative underscores their commitment to guiding farmers in cultivating high-demand commodities.

Today, AMA further solidified its vision by launching the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for 2024-2026 at their office in Nausori, aiming to enhance agricultural productivity and market access. This plan is expected to provide a roadmap for sustainable growth and better support for the farming community.

Officiating at the launch, Minister for Agriculture and Waterways, Honourable Vatimi Rayalu said that the 2024 – 2026 SDP, represents not only a continuation of AMA’s efforts to assist farmers but also indicates plans to enhance the agriculture sector.

“AMA’s SDP is designed to take Fiji to a higher level of market coordination while respecting the essential need for food safety, better nutrition, and the sustainable development of our agricultural sector. It is a compiled collection of the result of a participatory approach that builds on past achievements and lessons learned,” said Hon. Rayalu.

“AMA is taking a bold step in its commitment to sustainable development and the prosperity of our rural and maritime communities. The Ministry and AMA are at the very heart of implementing the strategies and action plans outlined in the recently launched National Development Plan and also linked to the Ministry’s Strategic Development Plan for 2024-2028,” he added.

Hon. Rayalu added that the overarching goal of this plan is to enhance AMA’s marketing coordination efforts by generating a significant increase in local production.

“We aim to achieve this through a substantial shift towards sustainable agricultural practices and methods that are environmentally friendly while also improving human nutrition.”

The AMA SDP sets out several key objectives which includes the following:

Increase sustainable market linkages and improve wealth creation for farmers in rural and maritime areas.

Improve commercial agriculture footprints across remote areas, increasing land utilization and enhancing livelihoods.

Diversify agriculture and aquaculture products to increase market share.

Identify and develop potential international markets for 'Fiji Fresh products.

Support agricultural activities in rural areas, enabling land utilization and income generation, addressing unemployment and poverty.

To achieve these objectives, the plan outlines several strategies, including an integrated approach with the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways.

“That is to connect remote farm production to market demand, policy development to understand upstream and downstream linkages, joint market studies, and the promotion of a savings culture among women and youth farmers.”

Executive Chair for AMA, Mr. Jone Sovalawa says that the success of this SDP will be closely monitored and evaluated by the AMA Steering Committee, which will ensure that the activities are on track and that the outcomes are achieved as stipulated.

“When AMA started, it faced a lot of teething problems due to a combination of factors, however, two of the key ones are governance issues and financial discipline which often relates to the absence of documented plans,” explained Mr. Sovalawa.

Mr. Sovalawa emphasized that for over a decade, there had been a lack of clear plans for the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA).

Since the new board took over 18 months ago, their focus has been on creating structured planning documents, culminating in the completion of both an Annual Corporate Plan and the new Strategic Development Plan (SDP).

He also highlighted the importance of ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways to advance the agricultural sector, urging all stakeholders to strengthen their partnerships for collective progress.

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