BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Elvis Butoa Jr from Gheghede village in East Central Guadalcanal is a pineapple farmer who sells his pineapples at the Honiara Central Market.
The business has allowed Butoa to support his family and community. Life’s good.
But there’s a thorn in the side which has been around and continues to challenge Butoa – the roads. Not only rural roads but Honiara’s roads as well.
Since leaving high school, 44-year-old Butoa has dedicated himself to pineapple farming.
“Many of my friends continued with their education, but for me, after I couldn’t make it to a higher level, I decided to farm pineapple. While they go to class every day, I go to the garden every day,” he told Island Sun in an exclusive interview.
This year, Butoa was fortunate to take part in the Annual Trade Fair currently underway at the FOPA Village, SINU village in East Honiara.
While the dedicated father has been enjoying his harvest and sales from his five hectares of pineapple farm, he also faced a lot of challenges.
He usually generates $2000 to $3000 per day from his sales.
“Now I have planted five hectares of a pineapple farm,” he said.
He took farming as a means of sustaining his life after graduating from high school.
“I went to my pineapple farm every morning. From six to six. I have only struggled for one year. Now I can generate 20-30 thousand,” said 49-year-old Butoa.
One of the challenges faced by Butoa is the transporting his pineapples to Honiara Central Market due to poor road conditions.
“This is a long-standing issue since the ethnic tension. It remains a challenge until today,” he said.
Low-profile vehicles are not an option as a form of transportation for many rural and local farmers, according to Mr Butoa.
“Our coming here to showcase our products was made possible with the help of the Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock (MAL). They sent us a Land Cruiser, so I was very fortunate. Thank you, government, for organising this event,” he said.
He called on their MP for East Central Guadalcanal to address the poor road conditions through the responsible ministry.
“I call on our MP Lazarus Rini, because this is what he campaigned for during the height of the National General Election,” he said.
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