| ID: | 74759 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Fiji |
| Title: | Fiji - Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) - July 2022 |
| Description: |
Feretariki Bureqele is a 20-year-old farmer and member of the Marinitawa Farming Cluster who hails from the village of Nanuku, Yakete in the province of Ba. He uses organic fertiliser prepared using a byproduct from the biogas generator his father bought to boost the growth of breadfruit saplings growing in the nursery. His father, Jope Qaqanayavusabotitu, looks on. Feretariki has lived in the rural area of Marinitawa, Moto, Ba for almost 8 years with his father, mother, and other siblings. He was studying engineering, but because of the COVID pandemic, he returned home to the farm in 2021 and joined his father in the fields. He is the fourth continuing generation of sugarcane farmer in his family. In addition to sugarcane, he plants turmeric, pineapples, and cassava on his farm. Feretariki says he is blessed to be part of the assistance provided by IFAD's Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) COVID Recovery Project. Feretariki was appointed by the Marinitawa Farming Cluster to look after 2,000 breadfruit seedlings that are housed in the nursery beside his home. Through PIRAS, the breadfruit seedlings will be distributed to other cluster farms in Yakete and Navosa Provinces. Breadfruit has great potential to address hunger and malnutrition across the region, which is why farmers are encouraged to integrate this superfood as an agroforestry system to increase food diversity and resilience for food security. Jope Qaqanayavusabotitu, Feretariki's father, is a 45 year old farmer from Rara Nalotawa Ba, now living with his wife and son, Feretariki Bureqele, on the farm he established in 2016 at Marinitawa. He began farming pineapple in 2017 and now has one of the biggest farms in the area. IFAD's Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) and its implementing partner, Rise Beyond the Reef, helped him establish a nursery and an irrigated area for cash crop farming as well as purchase a biogas generator which produces enough organic fertiliser for his use and by the community of farmers in the Marinitawa Cluster. The aim of PIRAS is to mitigate the effects of COVID and take steps toward livelihood recovery which includes the provision of planting materials and land preparation. |
| Size: | 3.60 MB; 6240 x 4160 pixels; 528 x 352 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1651 x 1101 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | Rob Rickman |
| Copyright: | © IFAD/ Rob Rickman |
| Categories: | none |
| URL: | www.ifad.org |
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