Government’s decision to tap into the seaweed industry is expected to generate income and employment opportunities for the youth and women of Fiji.
This is the design of sea weed projects being piloted across the country by various ministries including the most recent, the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation.
This week, the arrival of four seaweed experts from Indonesia will see women and youth in Tailevu, Savusavu and Namosi get firsthand experience in developing seaweed farming on a commercial scale.
The head of the Social Welfare Ministry Dr Jiko Luveni said the programme complements the Ministry’s income generating reforms and programs especially those for the disadvantaged in the country.
“ The seaweed training will greatly tap on the economic opportunities in the seaweed industry and it will provide a great opportunity for our women and youths to equip themselves with new techniques of earning income and improve their livelihood,” Dr Luveni said.
Dr Luveni said the experts would be providing training for the locals in seaweed processing, marketing and packaging
“The experts will be conducting three trainings for the women and youths, with the first training scheduled to start next week at Sawakasa village in Tailevu,” she said.
Dr Luveni added the newly built Mau Women’s Resource Centre, once completed, would be a hub for processing and marketing of seaweed products in Fiji.
“The Ministry has already constructed a Women’s Resource Centre in Mau village that is dedicated to producing seaweed products and the training is timely as the Centre is near completion,” Dr Luveni said.
The women and youth would also be trained on seaweed harvesting and value adding by processing seaweed to produce food items such as tomato sauce, seaweed noodles, sausages, juice and jam.
Meanwhile, another Indonesian expert in Bamboo and Coconut Training is also in the country and has trained women and youth in Tailevu, Ba and Ra on skills in Bamboo and Coconut Craft.
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