At the conclusion of the Community Based Emergency Employment (CBEE) programme with the villages of Naibita, Manu and Nabulini  and three months after the devastation by TC Winston, villagers are beginning to sell their produce at their makeshift roadside stalls. This include cucumber, pumpkin, beans and sasa brooms.

As the Ministry of Agriculture was not able to continue with the supply of seeds, the ILO was approached to provide vegetable seeds, dalo tops and fertilizer / manure.

A short, medium and long term plan for harvesting was established with the three villagers concentrating on crops that will be ready for harvest within 3-4 months, 7 months and 1 year.
 

 

Vegetable seeds (packets)	total	distribution
Watermelon	15	5 per village
Cucumber	15	5 per village
Egg Plant	15	5 per village
Capsicum	3	1 per village
Carrots	6	2 per village
Chinese Cabbage	6	2 per village
Corn kernels	3 x 22kg bags	1000 (Nabulini), 1000 (Nabita), 700 (Manu)
Poultry manure	3 bags	1 bag each
NPK Fertilizer	30 kg	10kg per village

Carrots, cucumber, watermelon, Chinese cabbage, eggplant and capsicum were considered short term and corn kernels was considered as a medium term commodity reaching maturity after a period of up to 7 months and banana was considered as a long term commodity, reaching maturity after 9 months.

The communities living along side the Wainibuka river have always been the main suppliers of banana to all the major markets in Fiji and for the export market. 

Community members were motivated to participate using the “solesolevaki” system (working in groups) and this will not stop at the conclusion of the project. Interestingly, the villagers already have a plan to separate crops for their own consumption, those to be sold at the market and their contribution towards communal gatherings.

Monthly visits will be carried out by ILO and the Ministry of Agriculture to monitor progress of the farms and provide technical advise on methods to improve the marketing of their produce.

 Below is a summary of all vegetables and root crops that were planted during the 10 day CBEE programme: 

	Naibita village	Manu village	Nabulini village	Total
Tavioka (Cassava)	7,861	3,296	7,400	18,557
Dalo (Taro)	620	2,104	3,490	6,214
Banana		329	245	574
Kumala (Sweet Potato)		496	175	671
Cucumber	1309		75	1,384
Dalo ni tana			355	355
Watermelon	202			202
Bean	65	728		793
Corn (sila)		304		304
Zucchini		201		201
Bindi		176		176
Bele		104		104
Bora bean		208		208