| ID: | 83743 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Kiribati |
| Title: | Kiribati – Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) – November 2022 |
| Description: |
Toanrenga Namoua lives in Takoronga Maitoro community in Betio, South Tarawa. She was one of the PIRAS project participants who benefitted from training programs implemented in early 2022 by Live & Learn Environmental Education on various aspects of agricultural production, such as food processing and preservation, planting seeds, growing seedlings and managing plant growth. “When we first heard about COVID, we tried to stock up on supplies before it came to Kiribati. My daughter was the only member of my family who was working and earning money to buy food for us. I managed to feed my family during the pandemic with all the food reserves we had stored, supplemented with the fruits and vegetables I raised in my home garden.” PIRAS started project implementation in early 2022 after the strict COVID-related lockdown restrictions were lifted. The project provided Toanrenga with seeds, seedlings, hand tools, a wheelbarrow and shade cloth. She also learned how to use flakes scaled from rusty cans, mixed with dried leaves, grass clippings, yard trim, and food scraps to make compost for enriching the sandy island soil. With these inputs and training, Toanrenga was able to expand the variety and quantity of vegetables she grows, thus further improving her household nutrition. Now, she sells surplus produce at the local roadside market, which provides her with additional income. “The training facilitated by Live & Learn was very successful and motivated me to do more. I gained a great deal of knowledge that has led to a healthier diet. Besides eating what I grow, I can sell fresh produce to people who can’t grow it for themselves, as well as cooked food takeaway rich with vegetables.” Toanrenga and her community are directly impacted by climate change. Her bure (traditional home), like so many others in her village, is alarmingly close to the rising sea, severely restricting the amount of space she has for cultivating vegetables. She lives with the constant worry that even the slightest high tide could overflow the makeshift barriers she has built to protect her home garden, destroying the vegetables she works so hard to cultivate. She is hopeful that the project can provide bricks for building a stronger, more attractive home garden plot in the future. 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: | 5.51 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: | ©IFAD/Barbara Gravelli |
| Categories: | New from Asia and the Pacific |
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