Caption: Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Hon. Sakiasi Ditoka and Commissioner Central Division Mr. Josefa Navuku with villagers of Vunidavo in Namosi in front of their newly commissioned Vunidavo Farmers’ Cooperative and Value-Adding Shed last week.
SUVA – The endless worries of having to frequently spare $30 to travel to and from Navua to purchase basic food supplies for families of Vunidavo Village in the district of Veinuqa in Namosi is now no more.
This follows the completion of the Vunidavo Farmers’ Cooperative and Value-Adding Shed Project.
Funded by the Ministry of Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management under its Self-Help Programme, the project was completed at a cost of more than $53,000. The project was also financially supported by the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Governance for Resilience (Gov4Res) Project through our joint efforts in ensuring all rural development initiatives are risk-informed.
This Vunidavo Farmers’ Cooperative and Value-Adding Shed will become the main trading center for the farmers in the area and will be operated on a cooperative-ownership basis. The cooperative will buy all products produced by the farmers at Vunidavo such as dalo and yaqona and also value add for sale to external buyers.
The shed project comprises a cooperative store and a value-adding center operated by a 20-member Launiu Cooperative team.
Ms. Lidia Durusila said villagers of Vunidavo were excited about the positive impacts brought about by this development by the Government.
“We are all very excited about this project, especially the women and mothers in the village. Previously, when we ran out of food, we would have to walk 30 minutes to get food from our plantations or have to set aside $30 for carrier fare to travel to Navua Town to buy food items. With the establishment of the cooperative store, it has brought much relief to us, especially for us, mothers, as we are usually worried about our children’s meals at school. We no longer have to travel to Navua to buy basic food items such as canned foods, noodles, flour, rice, sugar, oil, and other food items that we consume daily because we now have them available at this newly opened store,” Ms Durusila said.
Vunidavo Village headman Mr. Jone Delaidiligo shared the same sentiment and lauded the Government for its timely assistance.
“The villagers are grateful to the Government for this assistance because now, we no longer have to travel to Navua to buy basic food items as they are now available from the store. Also, we have an improved facility that we can use to sell and value-add crops that the cooperative will buy from our farmers here and in the neighboring villages. We will no longer have to go to Navua to sell these products, and this has lifted a huge burden off our shoulders,” he said.
The Vunidavo Farmers’ Cooperative and Value-Adding Shed Project is aimed at supporting the Vunidavo Farming Cluster to move into business, value-adding of grown farm products, and experience trading at higher levels within Fiji and abroad with better income earning capacity.
It is also envisaged to be a driving factor for the community of Vunidavo to better utilize their land resource, and also ensure the community is self-sufficient in terms of food security and income to better support their socio-economic needs.
In commissioning the project, Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and Disaster Management Hon. Sakiasi Ditoka said Vunidavo was successfully chosen as a recipient of this assistance by the Government because of their work ethic and spirit of “solesolevaki” as a community.
Minister Ditoka also commended the village for its ongoing Rural Millionaire project which started last year, and the swift operation of their cooperative store.
Caption: The newly completed Vunidavo Farmers’ Cooperative and Value-Adding Shed.
