BY RODRICK DESURI
Auki
The Nia Organic Farmers Association from Ugi, Makira Ulawa province is calling on government for support, saying government should support local farmer associations across the country.
The association highlighted this when it signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Goshen Enterprise on July 1 in Auki, Malaita province.
Chairlady of the Association, Nancy Kelehai said Nia has received little assistance from the Solomon Islands Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SIART) Project.
“Like for us, the Nia Organic Farmers Association, we have support from the SIART project by the Agriculture Department that will end this month, but we need more assistance in areas that are still a challenge for us.
“Signing of this MoA provides a great connection and relationship between us in terms of the market, but it does not address the challenges that we have with transportation,” she said.
Meanwhile, she also calls on the Makira-Ulawa provincial government to seek marketing opportunities and avenues through which individual farmers and farmer groups like Nia can sell their products.
“When we started in 2022, our provincial government did not support us at the association. We pay their provincial licences, but they have never supported us at any time,” she said.
Nia Organic Farmers Association is a taro farming association formed in 2022 on the island of Ugi, Makira Ulawa Province.
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