Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Waterways, Dr. Andrew Tukana, while speaking at the Stakeholders Consultation for the Fiji Agriculture Sector Policy 2024. [Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways Fiji/Facebook]

Improving the circumstances and livelihoods of Fijians living in rural areas who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods is vital.

This has been highlighted by Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Waterways, Dr. Andrew Tukana, while speaking at the Stakeholders Consultation for the Fiji Agriculture Sector Policy 2024.

This was held at the University of the South Pacific Statham Campus in Nasese yesterday.

Dr. Tukana emphasizes that the draft policy document is the outcome of a process, and we need to ensure that it is aligned with Fiji’s national policy and sectoral strategy.

The last policy document for the overall agricultural sector was the Fiji 2020 Policy Agenda, which became outdated at the end of 2020.

Dr. Tukana adds that five workshops were carried out to draft the policy document, and then a sixth workshop was carried out to receive feedback on the draft document.

He adds that agriculture is the most important sector in the economy given its contributions to foreign exchange earnings and rural livelihoods and its importance in the diet and culture of our people.

Dr. Tukana says that the policy document needs to be aligned with the National Development Plan, which brings together policies and planning for all sectors into one coherent framework.