Vocational hub targets school dropouts for commercial farming

Plans are underway to establish a farming-focused vocational training centre in the Northern Division to help school dropouts transition into commercial agriculture.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports is seeking land for the proposed facility, with Divisional Youth Officer North Walter Matalau lobbying districts across Vanua Levu to support the initiative.

Mr Matalau said the programme would target young people who return to farming after leaving the formal education system and equip them with the skills needed to turn farming into a viable business.

"We are looking at opportunities to be given a piece of land where we can build training centres and train these youths.

"We will train them on the mechanisms of farming. Once they are equipped with the knowledge, they can return to their villages and transition from subsistence farming into commercial farming," Mr Matalau said.

He said the ministry was confident the project would succeed because many young people in rural communities already possess basic agricultural and fishing skills.

"They do this from birth, so the only thing left is to nurture it. If we give them the right skills, framework and management training, it will be successful."

Mr Matalau said the training centre could also help address rising school dropout rates and drug-related issues affecting communities.

"We really need to keep them engaged, otherwise these social ills will creep in, especially with the current drug pandemic.

"When they are idle, they tend to resort to these kinds of activities. Engaging them in these programmes will steer them away from that.

"We will also incorporate sports values and ethics into the package to help solve the problem."

The Northern Division currently has two vocational training centres — the Naleba Centre in Macuata, which offers agricultural training, and the Naqere Centre in Savusavu, which focuses on carpentry.