‘Back to my roots’
THE “Back to my roots” project will be implemented in the Lomaivuna sector in province of Naitasiri. Through this project, the Consumer Council of Fiji hopes to create awareness on the responsibility
of farmers towards the environment, educate them on good farming practices towards improving and restoring ecosystem by employing sustainable farming techniques that promotes diversity and the importance of sharing of knowledge in the communities. The project will not only help create a sharing community that helps foster food security and alleviate financial distress but will also equip Fijian consumers to better face adversaries posed by any crisis. The council today discusses how the project works and its
benefits. irstly, we would like to provide a brief overview of the Back to my roots project. The Consumer Council of Fiji is part of a global campaign and a rising movement against unsustainable consumerism along with Consumers International — the membership organisation for consumer groups around the world.
In order to promote sustainable consumerism, every year Consumers International co-ordinates the Green Action Fund (GAF), collaborative project by Consumers International and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC). This annual grant scheme strives to promote consumer sustainability and sustainable development and reduce poverty by promoting worldwide awareness and advocacy activities which encourage sustainable patterns of consumption.
The GAF supports projects which are in line with the theme sharing community: ways that sharing and collaboration bring more equal and sustainable access to goods and services for the benefit of people and the planet.
Once again, this financial year, the Consumer Council of Fiji is one of the 27 recipients of GAF grant and is the only recipient from the Pacific and aims to conduct a project namely, “Back to my roots” with the theme food security: planting organic food using traditional methods.
This project is currently being implemented in the Lomaivuna sector in province of Naitaisiri.
Through this project, the council is creating awareness on the responsibility of communities towards the environment, educating them on good practices towards improving and restoring ecosystem by employing sustainable production techniques that promotes biodiversity and the importance of sharing knowledge
Fin villages.
Consequently, there has been activities organised and implemented in order to achieve the proposed targets of this project.
The project is also helping foster food security and alleviate financial distress and is trying to also equip Fijian consumers to better face adversities posed by any crises.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we need to be resilient in the face of crises and this is the essence of this project.
The project is the council’s initiative to be part of a wider, global movement against unsustainable consumerism and to help consumers find practical solutions for global consumer issues.
The Consumer Council of Fiji, with the technical support of the Ministry of Agriculture, highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing in communities and how this can have an impact on our primary sector.
There were about 150 participants from the eight sectors in Lomaivuna who attended the training on the importance of incorporating traditional production techniques in order to protect and nourish the environment for future generations.
Participants were also highlighted consumers behavior towards organic food. In developed countries, the demand for organic food has seen a significant increase in the past decade.
However, the organic food market in Fiji is still in its infancy and can be considered an emerging market. By gaining an understanding of consumer behavior in the Fijian market, the council believes this may change mindset of these participants.
Issues such as food security, traditional calendars and types of traditional farming techniques were highlighted during the four days.
Agricultural sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Therefore, long-term stewardship of both natural and human resources is of equal importance to short-term economic gain.
Systems that survive over time usually do so because they are highly resilient and adaptive. Resilience is critical because most agroecosystems face conditions (including climate, pest populations, political contexts, and others) that are often highly unpredictable and rarely stable in the long run.
Adaptability is a key component of resilience, as it may not always be possible or desirable for an agroecosystem to regain the precise form and function it had before a disturbance, but it may be able to adjust itself and take a new form in the face of changing conditions.
So when it comes to sustainability the major issues which needs addressing is the resilience and adaptability of our ecosystem, the very challenge faced by the farmers.
These are some of the areas that were covered during the four-day training:
■ Importance of knowledge sharing on sustainability in communities
■ Incorporation of traditional production techniques to achieve a balance between conserving the environment and maintaining production.
■ Build soil with natural fertilisers in order to grow crops
■ Food security
■ Traditional farming calendars
■ Talanoa sessions for farmers One of the biggest impacts which has been realised so far from this project is the formation of the Lomaivuna Farmers Council – a first for the people of Lomaivuna.
Through the platform created by the council whereby we brought the communities together for knowledge sharing – the farming council was formed. As part of this project, the council is currently running a competition whereby the participating sectors have come up with the most sustainable production technique.
This competition kindled the Solesolevaki spirit of the people of Lomaivuna which resulted in them toiling the land together and producing results in just a matter of minutes – which would otherwise take hours. This activity became the corner stone for the formation of the farming council as the people saw that in unity, they are able to produce much more – in a sustainable manner.
The spirit of unity for the participants where they were able to work together on their farm demonstration. Better understanding of consumers behaviours and organic produces and how participants can work their way towards sustainable farming.
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