PIRAS Virtual Exhibition & Talanoa | Eroni

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Eroni Qolikitoga is a married farmer from the village of Navai, Naboubuco district, in the province of Naitasiri. He has been farming for more than a decade and relies on the soil to support his family.

As an off-season farmer that supplies fresh vegetables to his customers, Eroni couldn’t send most of his vegetables – carrots, dhania, radish, tomatoes, purple cabbage, and potatoes to the local market due to the national restriction of movement during COVID-19.

Many Fijians lost their jobs and the prices for fresh food along with other basic food items increased. The Pacific Islands Rural and Agriculture Stimulus Facility (PIRAS) aims to help farmers in Fiji recover from the impacts of COVID-19 by improving income generation and food and nutrition for rural communities. The PIRAS project through Partners in Community Development Fiji (PCDF) assisted Mr. Qolikitoga with vegetable seeds namely long bean, capsicum, watermelon, cucumber and others that will help him continue with the supply of his off-season vegetable to the local market.

“I’m thankful for the trainings that was conducted by PCDF because it has taught me a lot on ways to utilize the soil, improve farm planning and planting methods. Time management and setting up a farming timetable is something I learned and put into practice and speaking from experience it has helped me tremendously.”

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