| ID: | 86674 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Tonga |
| Title: | Tonga - Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) - November 2022 |
| Description: |
Sosaia Kaho Tapaevalu, 37 years old, is one of 17 members of a youth-driven cluster farming group in Ha'akame located near the southwestern coast of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu. The group equally shares the land for cultivating yams and taro, staples in the Tongan diet. The young farmers faced many challenges due to COVID19 and in the aftermath of the January 2022 Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) volcanic eruption and tsunami. They turned to the IFAD-funded Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) for assistance. Thanks to PIRAS, they received training on improved farming practices, as well as tools to help make land cultivation more efficient and less labour intensive – like wheelbarrows. This support came at a crucial time, alleviating hardships and empowering them to enhance food production for their families. “After the HTHH disaster and COVID, we had few opportunities for earning a steady income. It was a very difficult time for all of us in Tonga. That’s when we began looking for assistance for our farm. PIRAS helped us plough our fields, alleviating a lot of the burdens we faced at that time. That helped us increase food production for our families.” “We would not have gotten to this stage of our farming without the help we received from PIRAS. Ploughing is a very expensive service for farmers. Ploughing made our work much easier and faster and eased the stress and economic burdens we would’ve faced. This gave us great hope and motivation.” MORDI Tonga Trust is the local implementing partner for PIRAS, which complements the IFAD-funded Tonga Rural Innovation Programme (TRIP II) project. Working in partnership and with the financial support of DFAT (AUSAid), PIRAS provided COVID19 recovery intervention to tackle the urgent agricultural needs emerging from HTHH. TRIP II helps the islanders develop and implement their community-driven development plans, and supports them to increase production capacity of nutritious, locally grown foods. |
| Size: | 15.72 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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