| ID: | 83747 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Kiribati |
| Title: | Kiribati – Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) – November 2022 |
| Description: |
Mwake Tibau from Ngarenao Community in Teaoraereke Village. PIRAS has helped farmers and gardeners like Mwake cultivate vegetables on challenging terrain. One of the key innovations the project has introduced to Kiribati’s gardeners is the introduction of sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic fertilizers. Grapeweed, a kind of seaweed, provides a rich source of nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, that are essential for plant growth. By using grapeweed, Mwake has improved the fertility of the sandy soil, thus enabling him to produce a more diverse range of vegetables, including high-quality lettuce. In fact, Mwake has even experimented with growing lettuce directly on the coral atolls’ sandy beaches. Through workshops and field demonstrations, Mwake and other gardeners and farmers in his community have learned how to prepare seaweed-based fertilizers and apply them to their crops, helping them adopt new agricultural practices and increase their crop yields. During the pandemic, the lockdown was strictly enforced, but markets were allowed to open their stalls during limited hours. Although the farmers and gardeners like Mwake couldn’t sell as much as before, they managed to get enough cash to buy staple food supplies for their families. Many of them still managed to fit fishing in between gardening and other household chores. Launched in 2022 in collaboration between IFAD and the Australian Government, the Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus (PIRAS) Facility is a regional initiative that aims to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural island households. The programme supports food system and economic recovery by prioritizing food self-reliance, improving local nutrition and developing sustainable, equitable agricultural livelihood opportunities for rural communities in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. In Kiribati, PIRAS works in collaboration with the Atolls Food Future Project, implemented by Live & Learn Environmental Education, and focuses on increasing farm production, nutrition and climate resilience by providing farmers and gardeners with nutrition-sensitive seedlings and planting materials, labour-saving tools, and equipment. It trains them in the safe use and maintenance of water tanks, composting production and soil preparation, and liquid fertilizer production and application. |
| Size: | 12.33 MB; 5472 x 3648 pixels; 463 x 309 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1448 x 965 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | Barbara Gravelli |
| Copyright: | Barbara Gravelli |
| Categories: | New from Asia and the Pacific |
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