PIPSO: make agriculture work more attractive
$300m spent on fruits and vegetable imports
Agriculture students should be more interested in getting their hands dirty than hunting for white collar jobs. Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) chairperson Howard Politini said: “In Fiji, the young people of the farms get a Degree at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji National University or University of Fiji, do not want to go back to the land. They want a white collar job.
“I have got folders with hundreds of applications. They all want jobs but it is very limited in the open areas.
“We need our people to utilize the resources that are still underutilized, especially land. “Farmers are giving up their land because the next generation is not interested in it.”
Despite this, Mr Politini believes agriculture work can be made more appealing to the current generation.
However, there a few issues that the agriculture sector faces such as bio security and quarantine that will be discussed at the PIPSO Fiji National Roundtable Workshop on ‘Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific Islands’ in Tanoa Plaza, Suva that started yesterday.
Mr Politini said the Pacific Islands has a wonderful growing business environment but Fiji spends $300 million on importing vegetables and fruits for tourists.
One of the main topics that will be discussed in the workshop, is how to locally produce fruits and vegetables imported.
This can be done through encouraging farmers to be entrepreneurs, said Mr Politini.