The Yavusa Kavula Restoration Programme in Bua Province, is making remarkable progress in restoring grassland areas within the five Mataqali of Yavusa Kavula. This initiative is being undertaken between the Ministry of Forestry and the environmental NGO Live and Learn Fiji. As part of the programme, the Yavusa Kavula has already planted 2,836 native assorted […]
Training for sustainable agriculture and food security
Government officials and participants from Australia and neighboring Pacific countries have gathered in Fiji for a week-long training program aimed at addressing food security, ending hunger, and promoting sustainable agriculture. The event, organized by non-government organization Live and Learn Pacific Network, has brought together representatives to discuss challenges, share successful strategies, and work towards a […]
Tunabuna calls for collaborative effort to enhance food security
The ever-increasing frequency and strength of natural disasters, the impacts of climate change, and inefficient agricultural production are among many other challenges that have exacerbated the struggles faced by vulnerable communities in accessing basic nutrition. This has been highlighted by Assistant Minister for Agriculture Tomasi Tunabuna while speaking during the Pacific Food Week workshop. Tunabuna […]
Residents of Kilikali Settlement plant seedlings during a workshop as part of the project by Live & Learn on Wednesday. IVE & Learn Fiji is a non-government organisation that has a strong history of implementing water, sanitation and hygiene projects in our communities. But they have gone a step further to help two settlements in […]
Food security has taken center stage in the efforts of the non-governmental organization Live and Learn, particularly in informal settlements across Fiji. Under the Atoll Food Futures program, Live and Learn has extended its support to five informal settlements, with the most recent addition being the Bilo Settlement located in Lami, just outside Suva. Project […]
Fiji’s first Indigenous-owned carbon credit project
LABASA, Fiji — No one finds their way to the village of Drawa by accident. To get there, you must first board a tiny plane to Labasa, the biggest town on Fiji’s Vanua Levu Island. Driving southwest past hectares of sugarcane plantations and forests riven with gashes of red earth, you’ll pass pickup trucks piled […]
A Drought Recovery and Climate Resilient Project has been launched to build more adaptive and resilient communities in Fiji, particularly in the Northern Division. The United States has committed close to $1million for this project, which will be implemented in collaboration with Live and Learn Fiji. The project will help address the interlinked challenges of […]
Cabinet has approved the formation of a National Emergency Response Team. National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) director Vasiti Soko confirmed this while delivering her closing remarks at a five-day emergency operation centre training at the Fiji Teachers Union Hall on Friday. “This is nothing new in the disaster space globally,” she said. “Solomon Islands is […]
Conserving forests: ‘High integrity carbon projects are important’
In a bid to assist landowners and communities, representatives of Plan Vivo, an internationally recognised Standard for the Voluntary Carbon Market(VCM), visited Fiji last week. The Scotland-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) certifies forest carbon projects that are led by local communities and are proud to certify several forest conservation projects within the Pacific Islands. Plan Vivo […]
The Yavusa Kavula Restoration Programme in Bua Province, is making remarkable progress in restoring grassland areas within the five Mataqali of Yavusa Kavula.
This initiative is being undertaken between the Ministry of Forestry and the environmental NGO Live and Learn Fiji.
As part of the programme, the Yavusa Kavula has already planted 2,836 native assorted seedlings.
In addition to restoring native vegetation, the initiative aims to plant 10,000 mandarin seedlings to boost local agriculture.
Recognizing the importance of this project, the Ministry has funded a temporary nursery to assist the community in raising their own seedlings for various planting operations, including mandarin cultivation.
Forestry Minister, Kalaveti Ravu, visited Kavula to officially open the temporary nursery this week.
The restoration programme was inspired by a site visit to Nayarabale Village in the District of Vaturova.
Government officials and participants from Australia and neighboring Pacific countries have gathered in Fiji for a week-long training program aimed at addressing food security, ending hunger, and promoting sustainable agriculture.
The event, organized by non-government organization Live and Learn Pacific Network, has brought together representatives to discuss challenges, share successful strategies, and work towards a zero-hunger Pacific.
Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Waterways Tomasi Tunabuna highlighted during the training the role of agriculture in the Pacific economies, acknowledging its contribution to Fiji’s GDP and the livelihoods of 80 percent of its population.
Tunabuna underscored the pressing issues facing the Pacific islands, such as natural disasters, climate change, and the loss of traditional knowledge, leading to food loss and waste.
He cited statistics showing that the Asia and Pacific region faces significant challenges, with food losses ranging from 20 to 21 percent.
The address emphasized the need for a collaborative approach to combating food loss and waste, recognizing its impact on food security, nutrition, and the environment.
Tunabuna praised the efforts of Live and Learn Pacific Network in providing a platform for Pacific Island nations to work together to find sustainable solutions.
He also stressed the importance of good governance and shared various policies developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways to support various programs, including the Gender in Agriculture Policy, Youth in Agriculture Policy, and Food and Nutrition Security Policy.
The ever-increasing frequency and strength of natural disasters, the impacts of climate change, and inefficient agricultural production are among many other challenges that have exacerbated the struggles faced by vulnerable communities in accessing basic nutrition.
This has been highlighted by Assistant Minister for Agriculture Tomasi Tunabuna while speaking during the Pacific Food Week workshop.
Tunabuna says food loss and waste remain challenges in the design of sustainable food systems.
He adds that the Pacific Food Week workshop will enable participants to improve their technical understanding of key food systems concepts that underpin various approaches to food security and development.
The workshop is organized by the Live and Learn Fiji Environmental Education—Resilient Food Systems and the Climate Resilient Islands Program and is attended by participants from Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji.
Residents of Kilikali Settlement plant seedlings during a workshop as part of the project by Live & Learn on Wednesday.
IVE & Learn Fiji is a non-government organisation that has a strong history of implementing water, sanitation and hygiene projects in our communities. But they have gone a step further to help two settlements in Fiji grow their own food even though they do not own land.
Humbled to be part of the World Food Day and National Agriculture Show at the Vodafone Arena last week, the organisation works in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways Fiji by supporting informal settlements in the country.
Demonstrating the purpose and the use of the raised garden bed at the Agriculture show, Live & Learn food security and livelihood coordinator Ponijese Korovulavula said with the support they receive from the Australian Government, they were able to pilot this project into informal settlements as most people living in these communities do not have land ownerships.
Mr Korovulavula said the project is called Atoll Food Futures program and its main concept is to help people living in informal settlements plant, store, grow and keep their plants. It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and implemented by Live & Learn.
The project works with community members across three countries (Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu) to improve the production of fresh, locally grown produce. It is designed to empower people to grow fresh healthy produce at home, through skill building, agriculture training and also by sharing indigenous knowledge surrounding home gardening and food preservation.
“We have encouraged communities to plant shallow rooted crops as it doesn’t consume a lot of water and nutrients.
This food cubes doesn’t come in land or farm sizes but people can use it as a source of food security.”
Mr Korovulavula said they are impressed by what most communities have done so far.
“Most people in the communities we’ve introduced the project to have developed an advanced way by planting seeds in the food cubes and later transferring it into other containers,” he said.
According to Mr Korovulavula, informal settlements are the ones that suffered the most from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and this project is something Live & Learn has brought about to help reduce this issue.
“We thank the Australian Government for funding and giving us the opportunity to reach out to these informal settlements, even though they have no land ownership, this concept is a way to help them in the future.”
Mr Korovulavula added for their food cubes concept they’ve supported settlements like Kilikali in Nadawa and Waikerekere outside Lami Town. Live & Learn is committed to work with vulnerable communities to improve food and nutrition security.
Food security has taken center stage in the efforts of the non-governmental organization Live and Learn, particularly in informal settlements across Fiji.
Under the Atoll Food Futures program, Live and Learn has extended its support to five informal settlements, with the most recent addition being the Bilo Settlement located in Lami, just outside Suva.
Project Manager Ponijese Korovulavula points out that informal settlements are home to many vulnerable populations, and they face numerous challenges, including limited access to fresh and nutritious food and the impacts of climate change.
“We are training them on how to be smart in terms of planting and also for our training we have included how they raise seedlings because most of them for the training, they does not have access to it because they have been isolated.”
Korovulavula explains that the decision to focus on informal settlements comes from the understanding that these communities are often overlooked in vital community development initiatives. The goal is to bridge this gap and empower communities to achieve food security and address the challenges posed by climate change.
By collaborating closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Australian government-funded project under Live and Learn has provided essential training in seed raising, good agricultural practices, seed extraction, and seed saving.
These initiatives are designed to equip residents with the knowledge and tools needed to sustain their food sources.
LABASA, Fiji — No one finds their way to the village of Drawa by accident. To get there, you must first board a tiny plane to Labasa, the biggest town on Fiji’s Vanua Levu Island. Driving southwest past hectares of sugarcane plantations and forests riven with gashes of red earth, you’ll pass pickup trucks piled high and wide with tightly bound stacks of the starchy cane stems, and loggers tugging loads of freshly cut tree trunks to one of the island’s many sawmills.
When you turn off the highway onto an unassuming gravel side road in the center of the island, your four-wheel-drive vehicle will shudder and shake as the track deteriorates into humps and hollows of greasy orange mud. But the view more than makes up for it: you’ll ford perfectly clear rivers and climb precipitously through tracts of deep-green cloud forest, before eventually parking among a scattering of colorful timber houses at the bend of a river at the very end of the road.
A Drought Recovery and Climate Resilient Project has been launched to build more adaptive and resilient communities in Fiji, particularly in the Northern Division.
The United States has committed close to $1million for this project, which will be implemented in collaboration with Live and Learn Fiji. The project will help address the interlinked challenges of climate change, rural poverty, food insecurity, and land degradation.
Live and Learn Fiji Country Director, Doris Susau says their efforts are tailored address the current crisis faced by rural communities.
“This program will enhance the development of climate resilient communities through various activities such as climate smart agriculture training, food preservation training, community-based disaster risk reduction awareness and training, watershed management, and, through the project, we will help to connect our communities to markets.”
The U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Marie Damour, says this will also benefit vulnerable communities.
“They will introduce community-based disaster risk management approaches and promote all of the inclusivity that the Director of Living, Lauren Fiji, has mentioned, because we know from experience that it’s often the people who live with disabilities and the children who feel these effects most often.”
The Ambassador is calling on relevant stakeholders to ensure these efforts are integrated and fulfill the needs of the individual communities on an individual basis.
Cabinet has approved the formation of a National Emergency Response Team. National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) director Vasiti Soko confirmed this while delivering her closing remarks at a five-day emergency operation centre training at the Fiji Teachers Union Hall on Friday.
“This is nothing new in the disaster space globally,” she said. “Solomon Islands is the first country in the Pacific to form a National Emergency Response Team. It’s also looking at ensuring that when you are deployed, you are deployed understanding humanitarian principles. You understand the different classes that exist within you, understand the logistic plan, how to prepare well for response. All of these small things, we take for granted but they really do save lives.”
She said decision makers relied heavily on the information that came from the Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) during disasters. “Everything is so important because as decision makers, we rely on the information that comes from you.
“So how you operate in emergency operation centers, how you work as a team, how you ensure that information is correct and verified, that comes from the district, to the divisional, to national.
“Those processes are very important to be followed because any delays between may cost a life,” she said.
The training program was organised by Live and Learn Fiji, a recipient of Australian Government funding through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership’s Disaster Ready 2.0 program.
It was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Rural Development and Maritime and National Disaster Management, as well as other government ministries.
In a bid to assist landowners and communities, representatives of Plan Vivo, an internationally recognised Standard for the Voluntary Carbon Market(VCM), visited Fiji last week.
The Scotland-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) certifies forest carbon projects that are led by local communities and are proud to certify several forest conservation projects within the Pacific Islands.
Plan Vivo has been running since the mid-1990s and has the longest running Standard in the voluntary carbon market that is recognised for having an ethical and fair-trade approach to carbon projects where communities receive income to protect nature.
Plan Vivo is the only Standard which has a requirement on financial benefits being shared equitably among customary landowners and communities.
It also brings a holistic approach to the Voluntary Carbon Market, with the benefits not just being climate related, but also having a positive impact for both nature and people.
Plan Vivo’s CEO Keith Bohannon said the high integrity carbon projects are of critical importance on how they work.
”We are committed to projects that are led by communities as the custodians of their natural resources and that ensure land and carbon rights remain with Indigenous people and customary landowners,” Mr Bohannon said in a media statement.
“For us, this is not only the right approach, but also the most effective way to deliver a real and lasting impact. Plan Vivo certification provides an opportunity for local communities to protect their forests through sustainable carbon projects as an alternative to logging and landclearing.
“To date, Plan Vivo projects have delivered more than 7 million tonnes of planned CO2 emission reductions.”
Mr Bohannon said the impact of climate change and the importance of protecting and restoring forests and biodiversity has prompted an increased interest in carbon projects within the Pacific region.
“Through this regional visit, Plan Vivo hopes to strengthen understanding and trust in the Voluntary Carbon Market and advocate for community-centred approaches to carbon projects.”
In Fiji, Plan Vivo works closely with the Nakau Programme and Live & Learn Fiji, developing forest protection projects that are designed and implemented by mataqalis.
During their trip, Plan Vivo will be visiting the Drawa Rainforest Project in Vanua Levu, a 10-year long project certified by the Plan Vivo Standard and the result of a partnership formed with the custodians of the land – the Drawa Block Forest Community Cooperative, Live & Learn Fiji, and the Nakau Programme.
The award-winning project has successfully protected 4,120ha of forest and generated more than 100,000 tonnes of verified emissions reductions.
The sale of carbon credits is now a significant income source and has allowed the community to strengthen their resilience to climate change and grow alternative forest enterprises.
Meanwhile Senior REDD+ Project Officer Live and Learn Fiji Beato Dulunaqio said they were honored to welcome the Plan Vivo team to Drawa.
“The Drawa community have committed to conserving the forests for many years and building upon the additional benefits the project provides,” he said.
“It is good for the people of Drawa to meet the representatives from the Plan Vivo Foundation to share their stories and achievements.”
Following the success of the Drawa project, there is now opportunity to replicate other similar projects in Fiji with support from the Fijian Government.
In addititon to their Drawa visit, Plan Vivo will also be meeting with government officials, local NGOs and conservation organisations to share insights about their standard and how it ensures projects are truly community-owned and all the benefits are considered.
Eight mataqali (clans) of Drawa in Vanua Levu are now reaping the benefits of the commitment they made ten years ago on forest conservation.
The mataqali formed the Drawa Block Forest Community Cooperative and started the carbon trading project in partnership with Nakau and Live and Learn Fiji.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) senior project officer with Live and Learn Fiji, Beato Dulunaqio said the Drawa project was the first carbon trading business in Fiji.
