Single mother, Eseta Druma, hopes her farming efforts will pay off for the coming Christmas festivities.

She was among young people of Yaboyabonia at Vatutu village in Nadi, involved in farming.

The 23-year old former hotel worker and youth leader, was amongst her peers who each received a grant for farming equipment, water tanks and fencing materials.

Minister for Youth and Sports, Parveen Bala Kumar, made the presentation at Nawaka Village.

Ms Druma said youth from her village were given 10 acres of land to cultivate and plant varieties of root crops and vegetables.

“When we were registered as youth groups, we had no idea that there would be initiatives such as this,” she said.

50 youth registered for the farming scheme, on land that is far from the village.

“It is about a twenty five minutes carrier drive, and the fare cost is $20,” Ms Druma said.

Camp Site
“We decided to set up tents at the farm for the boys to sleep over. We were there for each other, trying to get it all cleared, sorted before we started cultivating.

“We started with a few cash crops, like pineapples. We were in need of the water tank, because home for us is about a few meters away from the stream.”

Six Clubs
Mr Bala handed over farming assistance implements under the Youth Farm Initiative Programme, to six youth clubs.

The Youth Farm Initiative programme was officially launched four months ago to help youth of Fiji whose jobs were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They will learn to run a business and provide for their families,” Mr Bala said.

The Yavusa Nadi Youth Club, the largest youth club in Nadi, consists of 36 members.

The club was formed following the impact of COVID-19.

The club consists of members from the major clans in Nadi, who have utilised four acres of land beside the Nadi River, for vegetable farming.

A total of 1273 youths have benefitted from the Youth Farm Initiative programe.

The six youth clubs to have benefitted from the assistance in Nadi were:
Yavusa Nadi Youth Club,
Bajinareba Youth Club,
Yaboyabaonia Youth Club,
Ilovaravara Youth Club,
Israel Light Youth Club, and,
Nacavacola Youth and Club.

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