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“As a farmer, I find joy in what I do, I like spending my time on the farm and watching what I plant grow.’’

 During the lockdown, life in the village was tough, movement was restricted and we couldn’t even afford to buy basic food items from the store to feed our families. Mereseini shared that purchasing planting materials and other agriculture outputs wasn’t possible with the evolving fuel prices and cost to travel would be around $25 (one-way) to travel to Sigatoka and back. 

Through PIRAS, highland farmers were provided vegetable seeds, community nurseries, fencing, manure, and relevant training. “I learned how to extract my own vegetable seeds; this is something that we can practice so we don’t heavily rely on store-bought seeds plus it’s readily available. The assistance was very timely and the trainings which we have attended has taught us many lessons, now we prefer to plant our own food and eat what we grow,” says Mereseini. 

“Women play an important role in a family, we are the doctors, we are accountants, we are the teacher, we are the managers in our own family. Using our time wisely and carefully budgeting our expenses can help many Fijian families fight against poverty,” Mereseini concluded.