Page 24 - IB MAR 2017

Recovery Assistance

Lead beekeeper learns how to breed queen bees which will help in the creation of new hives, training was provided by the IACT Project TC Winston Recovery Action, as
part of their recovery assistance to the honey sector. Photo: SPC
n From PAGE 23
and greatly reduce the risk of spoilage. main island.
This assistance not only strengthened the The TC Winston Recovery Action has
The farmers have adopted a Participato- local coffee supply chain but it also created provided equipment and materials to over
ry Guarantee System (PGS) whereby they a new income stream for multiple farmers 400 farmers and enterprises to help rebuild
are providing a reliable supply of quality
tomatoes and other vegetables to resorts that have access to existing coffee trees their infrastructure and develop their abil-
to reduce import dependency, lowering on Vanua Levu, especially farmers that ity to endure future climate related disas-
ters, and increase their capacity to rapidly
had their crops destroyed by TC Winston.
the cost to resorts, whilst getting a higher To assist with the increased interest by bounce back to resume their operations
return to the farmers in the off-season. farmers of coffee as a new crop, farmers post disaster. Every farmer and enterprise
An example of expanding supply chains
to increase resilience and sustainability is have been assisted with the provision of has made a financial contribution, in cash
the coffee sector. TC Winston wiped out the two nurseries, one in Viti Levu and the and not in kind, towards the support they
have received, demonstrating that such
other in Vanua Levu, to provide seedlings.
coffee crop on the main island, Viti Levu. Another key strategic recovery focus direct support is valuable and necessary
The trees were still intact, but the coffee was on the ability to provide the inputs as a response to the disaster. Yet the key
cherry harvest was destroyed. There was
little direct support that could be identified necessary for farmers to restore their pro- lesson from the Action is that sustainable
to assist these farmers. For Bula Coffee duction. TC Winston destroyed hundreds recovery and resilience of private sector
trade requires a response that combines
of hives and bee colonies, the government
that was planning to purchase the coffee tilapia hatcheries were wiped out, and un- response with recovery initiatives based
cherries, the alternative could have been able to resume operations, and several fruit on strategic market-led development.
to source coffee from Vanua Levu where
the resource was still abundant but not and vegetable varieties had limited supply - Jonathan Landrey is the interim co-ordinator
actively harvested. However the trans- of seedlings from nurseries. To assist with for the IACT TC Winston Recovery Project (IRP)
establishing a consistent supply to the
portation of cherries from Vanua Levu to market, the Action stepped in and provided at SPC
their processing plant in Sigatoka on the Fiji’s lead bee keepers with training on
main island resulted in high losses due
to moisture, mould and fungus attacking queen bee breeding, which will increase
the pulp. The Action therefore supported the number of hives and honey produc-
tion, has assisted with the construction
the provision of a mobile processing unit of four private tilapia hatcheries around
for Vanua Levu that will enable Bula Cof- the country and has supported two major
fee to pulp and dry the coffee cherries to
ensure that they can transport dry beans plant nurseries in the east and west of the

24 Islands Business, March 2017