| ID: | 86701 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Tonga |
| Title: | Tonga - Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) - June 2023 |
| Description: |
Lafonga Fahamokioa, Te'ekiu Town Officer working at the Te'ekiu cluster farm. Te‘ekiu is a village of about 550 residents on the western side of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu. The powerful eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) underwater volcano triggered a tsunami that devastated low-lying coastal areas, including on Tongatapu in January 2022. The Te'ekiu cluster farm Lafonga oversees was completely destroyed by the heavy ash and the tsunami. MORDI Tonga Trust is the local implementing partner of the IFAD-funded Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) and the Tonga Rural Innovation Programme (TRIP II) projects. Working in partnership and with the financial support of DFAT (AUSAid) and the New Zealand Aid Programme, PIRAS and TRIP II help the islanders develop and implement their plans, and support them to increase production capacity of nutritious, locally grown foods. One of the biggest problems gardeners and smallholder farmers face day-to-day is that is that most of them don’t own land where they can grow food. MORDI has helped landless farmers develop cluster farms as a solution. TRIP II negotiates agreements with absent landowners to allow the farmers to cultivate their land. The projects also helps the farmers prepare their plots for planting and has built protective fencing that keeps free-roaming livestock, especially pigs, from the foraging the cultivated fields. Building on its earlier responses to climate change, natural disasters and the COVID-19 crisis to address food security and nutrition, MORDI was there to help Tongan farmers and gardeners recover and rebuild their food systems after the HTHH natural disaster. MORDI’s agricultural extension agents teach the farmers about crop rotation, cultivation techniques and new technologies through hands-on ‘farmer field school’ training. Each cluster farmer has his own plot, but they help each other grow traditional root crops, like taro, yam and sweet potatoes, which they use for family consumption and sell locally and for export. Together, they are strengthening food security and livelihoods for the good health and well-being of their island community. There is an old proverb in Tonga: “oua lau e kafo kae lau e lava” (stay positive and count your blessings). In Tongan culture, food and tradition bring communities together – having enough food to share with others is one of life’s greatest blessings. IFAD’s support for community-driven development has empowered the cluster farmers to produce and share more locally grown, nutritious foods again. |
| Size: | 1.79 MB; 945 x 1417 pixels; 80 x 120 mm (print at 300 DPI); 250 x 375 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | Todd Marvel Henry |
| Copyright: | © IFAD/ Todd Marvel Henry |
| Categories: | New from Asia and the Pacific |
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