Organic farmers’ organisations working with young farmers in the Cook Islands, Niue and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are the essence of a new project entitled ‘Capacity Building for Resilient Agriculture in the Pacific’ aimed at reducing the intense vulnerability of rural people in the Pacific to natural hazards and climate change.

Launched today, the project will involve training producer groups focusing on organic production of fruit vegetables and root crops in each project country to build the organisational and technical skills they need to be able to support their members, especially the young women and men in their communities. It is expected that at least 600 young farmers will benefit from the programme.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom) are behind the initiative. The main crops and detailed activities to be carried out in each country will be decided on during consultations with young farmers and their supporting organisations, as well as with other stakeholders such as the private sector and government ministries. This process will be facilitated by POETCom and SPC during planning visits to each country, with the first planning meeting to be held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands this week on Tuesday 24 February.

With a view to sustaining the benefits the project is designed to generate, a training-of-trainers approach will be taken, including farmer-to-farmer mentoring within producer organisations, drawing from farmer field school methods, and using mentoring and exchange visits as tools for sharing skills and knowledge.

“Of our total Pacific Islands population of over 8 million, some 1.6 million people are aged between 15 and 24 years – and yet we have an ageing farming population. Our youth are the future of our food supply and we need to encourage them to take up agricultural careers,” the POETCom Organic Extension Systems Officer, Stephen Hazelman, said.

“To attract young people to farming we need to utilise technologies that are the language of the younger generation and that help link agriculture to the issues that concern them, like the environment, community and identity. “We also plan to use innovative tools and social media platforms to capture learning and share information and experience amongst the participating youth in the three countries,” Mr Hazelman said.

“To attract young people to farming we need to utilise technologies that are the language of the younger generation and that help link agriculture to the issues that concern them, like the environment, community and identity. “We also plan to use innovative tools and social media platforms to capture learning and share information and experience amongst the participating youth in the three countries,” Mr Hazelman said.

In his comments, IFAD Sub–regional Coordinator Sakiusa Tubuna stated, “The support is intended to allow young farmers to approach agricultural production in ways that will provide them with the means to secure both income and increased food supply and be more resilient to climate change impacts and natural hazards – this may mean reviving traditional practices that are being lost or introducing new organic technologies.”

Tubuna said that IFAD works to invest in rural people and is proud to support this project, which builds on the strong partnership of SPC and POETCom and will continue IFAD’s work in the Pacific.