MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, WATERWAYS & ENVIRONMENT HON. DR MAHENDRA REDDY'S SPEECH FOR THE BACK TO RURAL AGRICULTURE (B2RA) PROGRAMME

Permanent Secretary for Agriculture
Members of the Media
Senior Government Officials
Ladies and Gentlemen……
 
Ni sa Bula Vinaka, and a very good afternoon to you all.
 
Since 2019, the current Pandemic has rapidly transformed in an unprecedented health, economic, and geo-political crisis.  With over 180m confirmed cases of COVID 19 and close to 4 million deaths worldwide, the global pandemic is wreaking havoc on the global economy triggering severe economic downturns, sending shockwaves through stock markets and living millions across the globe without jobs.

The World Bank estimates that the impact of COVID 19 could push 500million people further into poverty and the pandemic threatens to reverse many of the development gains achieved over the recent decades. 
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fiji is not excluded from this peril. During the first wave of COVID 19 in early 2020, a total of 115, 000 Fijians lost their jobs (ILO Report 2020). This includes workers in the tourism sector, airline employees, MSME’s and others who are engaged in small businesses.
 
But we know that the impact of COVID-19 is much larger than that, being faced by everyone, either directly or indirectly. The war against COVID-19 can only be won if we all unite to combat this serious disease, which if not controlled, has the potential to kill hundreds, leaving a devastating impact on the communities and our country. However, it does not really take much to defeat this pandemic, but in fact everyone joining hands and taking personal responsibility to safeguard their safety and that of others.
 
There are some basic things you can do to help Fiji get over this pandemic:
 
The most important thing you can do if not done already – please get vaccinated! It will protect you. It will protect your loves ones, your friends, families, colleagues, and others you are regularly in contact with. Having achieved just over 45% coverage of target population receiving their first vaccine shot and around 5% getting their second jab, we need to get to target the remaining to get vaccinated quickly so that we can develop herd immunity, which will protect us from this deadly pandemic in the future.
 
Please, always wear face mask when going out of your homes, practice physical distancing, practice and promote good hygiene, avoid crowded places and go out of your homes only if you have to for work, food, medicine or emergencies.  
 
Together with this, please keep up to date with the latest COVID-19 hotspots and follow advisory provided by MoHMS and the Fijian Government.
 
Together, we can beat this and make Fiji COVID free once more! So, let’s please join hands and all do our bit with highest sense of personal responsibility and accountability.
 
We all know that the numbers we will continue to increase in the short term, now that we are experiencing our second wave of the pandemic. Recently, Fiji is facing a surge in the total number of positive COVID-19 cases and at the same time there have been lockdown restrictions that have forced people to lose their jobs or limit the number of days of their engagement at work. This occurrence has put pressure on Fiji’s agriculture sector to expand its development scope as most of these people are now returning to their rural villages or communities to farm their land.
 
On that note, today in response to this change, and to ensure that we continue to successfully develop and expand Fiji’s agriculture sector, I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Agriculture is launching the “Back to Rural Agriculture” (B2RA) program. This program aims to support Fijians who have lost their jobs due to the current pandemic and are now returning to the rural area to focus on agriculture. To reinforce their settlement support and to develop agricultural entrepreneurship of these individuals, the Ministry of Agriculture will commence by providing them an initial farm support kit, which will help them commence their farming activity. Through ongoing targeted interventions with these individuals, our aim is that over time, we will see an increase rural vitality through a win-win cooperation between these returned farmers, the Ministry and the rural communities.
 
As a startup, the program will include a total package of $400.00 per individual, which would consist of $250 worth of farming tools, directly delivered to successful farmer, $100 worth of planting materials and $50.00 cash, which can be used to procure any other items needed. The toolkit will include -
1 x Farm knife,
1 x Fork,
1x Spade,
1x 20L water bucket,
1x Jerry Can (Water Can),
1x Axe,
1 x 50 metre rope,
1 set tarpauline,
1 set shade cloth
 
Planting materials will also be distributed in addition to the above equipment, based on individual requirement and land suitability.
 
To apply for this assistance, application forms will be made available at your nearest Agriculture station and interested individuals will be expected to provide the following information with your application to substantiate your selection.

Evidence of loss of job due to COVID-19 (letter from the company, etc.) and no other alternative sources of income for the family.

Applicant should have land readily available, at least 5 acre with supporting documents.

Applicant must be an aspiring crop farmer with intention to take on full time farming as core activity.
If farm is located in a rural village, supporting letter from community leader is to be provided.  

Further details and clarifications will be provided by the extension officers when you visit the station.
 
I must emphasise again that this programme is for people who want to venture into agriculture having lost their jobs due to the current pandemic, and therefore will be only provided to those meeting the criteria in full.
 
These farmers on the programme will be registered on our database and each of them will be provided ongoing support by way of farm technical assistance, education, and guidance to help them grow and make agriculture their long-term profession. This will in the long-term help create vibrant farming villages where through their new profession, are able to enjoy an enhanced quality of life in their home environment.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fiji’s Agriculture sector, despite the current pandemic has been experiencing consistent growth. This again has been evident in the first quarter of 2021 where our domestic export of fresh and chilled produce grew by 27.7% as compared to the same period in 2020. The Ministry will continue to support and assist farmers who are willing to take up that challenge and walk the extra mile to ensure food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihood for all Fijians.
 
I look forward to engaging further with new farmers who will be part of this scheme to ensure that we enhance their farming capacity and expand Fiji’s commercial agriculture sector.
 
Thank you, vinaka vakalevu and dhaanyavaad.