Labasa, Fiji? The honey industry? estimated to be worth FJD3.5 million? was predicted to become one of Fiji? s big earners in the agriculture sector in years to come until Tropical Cyclone Winston made a landfall in the South Pacific Basin in February 2016.
The disaster posed a major setback to the development of the Fijian honey sector. A survey carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture found that the majority of Fijian bee farms lost some of their hives during the cyclone, causing a sharp drop in honey production in 2016.
One year after the destructive Winston, the honey industry is touted to make a sweet comeback. Lead beekeepers from Vanua Levu undertook a weeklong training on Feb. 20-24 in an effort to revive Fiji? s honey industry, which was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Winston.
This training is one of the TC Winston recovery activities of the EU-funded Increasing Agricultural Commodities Trade( IACT) project, implemented by the Pacific Community( SPC). The IACT project provided approximately FJD 4 million in recovery support, mainly focused on rebuilding and strengthening key value chains in the agriculture and aquaculture sectors.
Sweet deal:
Fiji rest ores beehives, revives honey indust ry
The beekeeper training, facilitated by John Caldeira, president of the Fiji Beekeepers Association, sought to help beekeepers restore and enhance their beehives, which will increase honey production and improve quality of honey produced. The training focused on bee biology and sociology and provided hands-on advice on bee grafting techniques.
? There are great opportunities within the realm of disaster risk reduction that aim at improving livelihoods, food and nutrition security but also offering ample opportunities for market driven resilience and value chain enhancement,? said Jan Helsen, director of SPC Land Resources Division.
" Through a range of different initiatives the European Union has been proud to play an important role in Fiji ' s recovery process following the destruction caused by TC Winston one year ago,? said Christoph Wagner, head of the EU Delegation for the Pacific.? This very practical training and the equipment provided to over 200 bee farms will help beekeepers get back on their feet. The newly acquired skills will assist the farmers to increase the volume and quality of their production, and therefore income and resilience."
A survey carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture found that the majority of Fijian bee farms lost some of their hives during the cyclone, causing a sharp drop in honey production in 2016.
? One of the major challenges to growing the honey industry, even before TC Winston, is the lack of technical knowledge and skills among our beekeepers. With this training, experienced beekeepers are taught the best methods of increasing the number of hives and how to maintain healthy bee colonies. The raining was necessary, not only for recovery, but also to build a resilient honey sector that would strengthen the supply chain,? Caldeira said.( SPC)
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skills that will translate directly towards employment in the area trained. The outcome is a vocation certification program that develops Palauan citizens for employment in the areas of the economy that demand technical skills.
In the end, the skilled workforce program develops skill for locals enhancing their employability while offering tax incentives for businesses to take a chance for hiring a local at higher wages to participate in local labor market.
Government employment is still the preferred choice for locals. It is stable and offers better salary, paid sick leave, a weekend off and pension. These incentives make it hard for the private businesses to compete with government for skilled workers. To make private employment more attractive, the government has increased the minimum wage by a dollar from $ 2.50 to $ 3.50, in increments of $ 0.25 spread over the last four years.
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More incentives are being drawn up to drum up interest in the local labor force and encourage the educated and skilled Palauans abroad to return home. President Tommy E. Remengesau, for example, has introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $ 8.50 with an incremental increase of 50 cents per year for 10 years. Also a scheme to include the private sector employees to participate in the government pension plan is gaining traction with policymakers.
The young men and women of Palau in developing the national youth policy last year remarked that while Palau has made some forward progress by raising the minimum wage, there still is concern that Palau ' s minimum wage is inadequate for young people to support themselves and to support strong and independent families. They said programs that support young people as they transition from being a dependent in a family to becoming a head of their own household would go a long way to help Palau ' s young people transition to adulthood.
? While gains have been seen in both education and the educational outcomes of Palau? s youth, there still is much that can be improved in the education sector. The country still has an unacceptably high number of young people who are not in education, employment or training. While some progress has been made in getting government agencies involved in youth development, very little has been done to bring the private sector on board,? the young locals noted in putting forward the national youth policy.
They further said that improving the educational system needs to be a central focus of Palau? s youth development strategy. Expanding and improving available training programs are imperative if Palau? s young people are to be better prepared to enter the workforce and have the skills necessary to meet the needs of the local labor market.