The Minister for Agriculture, Rural & Maritime Development and National Disaster Management Inia Seruiratu has received assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The assistance received will go towards equipping the Ministry of Agriculture staff members who  were affected by the Tropical Cyclone Winston.

The UNDP resident representative Osnat Lubrani handed over the equipment at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters in Raiwaqa.

Mrs Lubrani said the assistance would help the agricultural officers to get back on their feet to help the farmers and to address food security in the country.

“When crisis happens you need to help yourself so that you can help others,” she added.

“The agricultural officers need help so that they can engage in urgent work which is to help farmers to recover and to get the work done,” she said.

Mrs Lubrani added that the farmers needed emergency assistance from the officers to prevent the shortage of food supply in the country.

“What they need is planting materials and to help clear debris which are emergency needs. If you don’t plan soon then there will be a problem with supply of food such as vegetables.

“But in order to provide that, the workers need to do their assessment, they need to see exactly what is needed and how to help.”

The equipment provided by the UNDP includes laptops, printers, water tanks, tents, generators, solar lanterns and groceries.

Mr Seruiratu said: “We will not be distracted to modernise the agriculture sector in Fiji but will maintain our focus towards our goal.

“It’s a huge challenge for all of us but without co-ordinated effort and the synergy that has been established, we should be able to do well,” he added.

He said they will now re-organise and work towards bringing changes in the agriculture sector.

“It’s a good time for us to re-organise, get assistance and processers in place that will bring the much needed change in this sector,” he said.

“So this assistance will really help us in our aspiration to modernise and set up industries in Fiji’s Agriculture Sector,” he added.

The equipment will be distributed on March 7.