Page 20 - IB OCT 2017

Agriculture Senituli’s view King ‘mistaken’ P25

Health A cancer survivor’s tale P27
POLITICS BUSINESS SPORTS Islands Business
Greener days are coming

1184 certified levels of annual production and the Com-
Terry says this will double previous

pany will continue to provide 85% of the
organic farmers country’s overall coffee consumption. “In
terms of our Regional Sales we currently
export quite a lot, with 350kg a month
THE historic launching of Organic Pasifika being shipped to Fiji, a further 5,000kg a
at Laminu Stadium on Tanna Island last Farmers parading to Laminu Stadium for their year going to Australia plus sales to New
month (September 20) certified 1184 certification ceremony in Tanna. Below: Nabil training Zealand, Japan, USA, Norway and most
organic farmers from Tanna alone. It is manager Tom Kasso ansd students with their harvest. recently the UK.
Photos: Supplied
a signal that greener days are coming to Tanna Coffee has also been fairly active
the Pacific. in assisting the overall development of
Vanuatu’s National Task Force co- other small-holder led coffee industries
ordinating the first ever Pacific Week in East Timor, Samoa and the Solomon
of Agriculture (PWA) in Port Vila from islands, with the provision of technical
October 10 – 20, is racing against time, advice, skills and know-how”, Terry adds.
with confidence to pull off the first-ever “The important aspect of Tanna Coffee
regional event with a category of success. is that you can grow this truly amazing
The Vanuatu Government has launched product on Tanna Island and there are
the Agri Tourism Policy to bridge the gap to the day he harvests them. On gradu- thousands of grass-roots farming people
between farm and restaurant. The bridge ation day, all students are awarded their all deriving a good source of cash income
is working wonders in the Caribbean certificates along with their bank accounts and empowerment through the coffee
Islands, the birth place of PWA. to use the money to buy their first farm- industry. This week marked an impor-
Meanwhile Breakas Beach Resort on ing tools. tant event where 1,148 individual coffee
the southern outskirts of Port Vila is pi- Vanuatu’s Tanna Coffee Managing farmers becoming organically certified,”
loting organic dishes on its menu in line Director Terry Adlington sees the forth- Terry says with pride and adds; “It is a
with the wishes of its health conscious coming Pacific Week of Agriculture as a wonderful thing to see.
customers. wonderful opportunity to showcase the “This is a truly a unique event world-
The initiative is aimed at certifying the best of Vanuatu`s goods and trade prod- wide, certifying all of these organic farm-
resort as an organic resort and to encour- ucts to the South Pacific and beyond by ers together in one day on September
age other resorts to follow suit. highlighting what Vanuatu has to offer 20th 2017”.
At the end of the day it is a win-win in terms of agricultural production and Tanna Coffee farmers are also becom-
situation for the organic farmer, organic agri-tourism. ing wiser now about the value of disaster
resort and healthy people. He says the delegates who are coming reduction and sustainability, because even
In Vanuatu two main natural attractions to this event from around the world will though there were 330,000 trees lost as
put Tanna Island in its own category. Ya- see what can be produced and manufac- a result of Cyclone Pam, Tanna Coffee is
sur Volcano attracts visitors from round tured here and what investments can be now replacing them all, whilst growing
the globe to reach the top of the world’s made through visiting the various trade them through an intercropping regime
most accessible volcano. The island’s booths on the first two days of PWA. along with 50,000 kava cuttings, over
deep volcanic soil guarantees rich veg- Although coffee was first grown more 100,000 sandalwood trees and a variety
etable and root crop harvests year-in and than 150 years ago at Port Resolution in of short and long term essential oil grasses
year-out. South Tanna, the Tanna Coffee ‘brand’ and trees, which are quite valuable.
In fact ,the Nabil Rural Training Centre has always been recognised as a good “These essential oils are utilised within
in central Tanna trains young school leav- quality product locally, regionally and another venture that we are now devel-
ers to become farmers and is writing its internationally. oping with my partner Sandra Mazzucco
own success story. Unfortunately 2015’s Cyclone Pam who owns South Pacific Botanicals Ltd
Part of their training for the students wiped out over 330,000 trees result- which produces essential oils for the
involves being provided with a plot of land ing in limited production over the past “Summit” range of skin care and health
each to farm using the skills they learn. couple of years, but this vitally important products at our re-located distillery at
They harvest their own crops which are agricultural Industry is back on the road Tanna Coffee Central, which is a new
sold and the money earned is used to open to recovery, with the Company’s new centre for all agri-business enterprises
a bank account for each student. small-holder farmer program clearing in Port Vila, where we can showcase the
The student’s teacher evaluates his and planting 350,000 new trees over the best products Vanuatu can manufacture,”
success from the day he plants his crops next two years. he says.
n SPC

20 Islands Business, October 2017