The European Union (EU) funded Training Support to the Sugar Industry project has rolled out a series of “Farming as a Business” workshops.

These workshops are meant to enhance leader farmers business development and financial management capacities.

This follows the successful implementation of the leader farmer workshops last year, which were attended by over 260 participants and farm advisory officers from across the sugar belt areas of Fiji.

“An important aim of the project is to strengthen mill workers’ and sugar cane farmers’ knowledge and skills to enable them to become more effective partners in the industry,” says Ambassador Andrew Jacobs of the Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific.

“This aim has become even more important now in the context of post-Tropical Cyclone Winston as farmers devastated by its effects pursue new knowledge and skills to help them regain their livelihoods and re-build their lives as quickly as possible”.

The first workshop was conducted on March 14-15 at the FSC Training Centre in Labasa and was attended by 18 leader farmers.

The second workshop was conducted at Nadogo College on March 16-17. The next two workshops were held on March 21-22 at Seaqaqa College, Labasa and at the FSC Training Centre, Lautoka on March 23-24.

The Impact Partners/Fairtrade Co-ordination Unit from the EU Co-ordination Unit is coordinating farmers to attend the workshops which are being delivered by Australia-Pacific Technical College.

IPF/FCU Fairtrade Relations and Development Coordinator and EU Coordination Unit Technical Manager, Mohammed Habib said that these workshops equipped farmers with basic finance and business planning skills which they could then distribute to other farmers after the training.

He said that the training was an example of appropriately targeted and successful extension services which would allow for improvements for sugar farming businesses.

Mr Habib said this would lead to increased incomes for farmers, and the industry as a whole.

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