Hanif elected president of Cane Producers group
AYear 12 school dropout is the Labasa Cane Producers Association (LCPA) newly elected president.
Now at the age of 61, Mohammed Hanif of Solove, Labasa believes he can contribute his knowledge and experience to help sugarcane farmers.
Work Experience
After dropping out from Labasa College, he helped his father in the sugarcane fields.
At the age of 30 he started working as a saw miller at Waiqele
Sawmill Pte
Limited.
The now father of three children was employed as an accountant and rose to the position of manHe later resigned after working for 14 years at the company.
“I went back to farming but I always wanted to work in an office,” Mr Hanif said.
“Then I joined Valebasoga Tropik Boards Limited as the general manager and worked for 17 years.” He said his work took him to countries like Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, Tahiti, Tonga, Hong Kong, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, American Samoa, Samoa and Cook Islands.
He recently resigned since he passed the retirement age.
Joining LCPA
Mr Hanif said he felt proud to be a sugarcane farmer’s son and continued with his father’s legacy.
“While working for other companies I continued to manage my father’s farming business because land is everything,” he said. “I joined LCPA as a delegate when it started in 2010, then as a civilian committee member, early this year as a director of the Wailevu sector until I decided to stand for the president’s position.”
During his two years tenure he aims to work with farmers to increase yield, overcome climate change effects and other challenges.