Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum today opened Farmlands Hardware and Farmer’s Supermarket & Coffee House with a Feed Outlet, under the Fiji Co-operative Dairy Company Limited (FCDCL) in Manoca, Nausori.
"The Government has continued to provide assistance to dairy farmers of about $5 million in the past few years, right from farm gate subsidy prices to other aspects such as cartage.”
"We do provide services through the Ministry of Agriculture, whether it be Tuberculosis or various other challenges the dairy farming industry faces and we will continue to provide that assistance,” he added.
"We are also looking at how the Fiji Development Bank can provide more funding for farmers who want to engage in a deeper and meaningful manner in the dairy industry."
The A-G also commended the board members for this new venture and advised “you have to run your farm like a business and have the financial discipline to grow your business."
A talanoa session was also held by the A-G with the farmers on issues and challenges faced by them which they want the Government to address.
The opening of this venture is expected to secure employment for nine people.
Approximately 300 farmers supply products to FCDCL and through a special arrangement, these farmers will be able to purchase food items from the supermarket on credit which can later be deducted from the produce supplied by them.
FCDCL Board Chair, Mr Simon Cole, thanked the Fijian Government for all its support over the years.
"FCDCL has been receiving the dairy development grant from the Government which is being utilised in cartage and other supplementary feeding functions that farmers are not able to procure due to cost,” he said.
"We need to reflect in our guidelines that the Government has supported this industry to become more commercial, as it has indicated it will only support where they see growth and commercial return,” he added.
"Our aim is to provide service and we do not try to maximise profit because our farmers are our customer base."