August 2016
The ESCAP Workshop group of participants
The impact of severe flooding to damaged Fiji Red Papaya during the recent floods after TC Zena in Fiji and the remedial work done by PIFON farmer organisation member (Nature’s Way Cooperative) to assist its member farmers from its papaya developing sunburn, was an action item that caught the attention of many of the regional attendees that were part of the recent United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific Community (ESCAP-SPC) workshop when the PIFON secretariat presented the actions that can be taken to understand the practicality of ‘resilience on climate change’.
The workshop made up of regional representatives and specialists in various fields of agriculture, climate change and meteorology met for 3 days at the Tanoa International Hotel to discuss/investigate/analyse and map a regional way forward on resilient agriculture on climate change to be presented at the 2017 Pacific Heads of Agriculture Meeting in Vanuatu.
The presence of farmer organisations (FOs) at this important forum represented the significant steps being taken that FOs are being recognized and be an integral part to such significant forums where farmer’s voices can be heard. The PIFON Secretariat acknowledged the invitation from ESCAP-SPC and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to this regional workshop.