Sainimili Magimagi 
[Photo: FILE]
A disaster assessment conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture shows Tropical Cyclone Vaianu caused $1.5 million in non-salvageable damage, affecting 13,769 agricultural households nationwide, despite not making landfall.
More than 66.7 percent of the losses occurred in the crop subsector.
Therefore the Ministry has rolled out rehabilitation measures to support affected farmers with the applications for assistance opened yesterday and will close on May 1.
The assistance which includes a standard food security package consisting of seeds, potting mix, as well as training and awareness programs is not limited to rural communities but is also encouraged for those living in urban and peri-urban areas.
“We saw widespread destruction of cassava, papaya, banana, plantain, export vegetable commodities, and yaqona.”
Tunabuna says mitigation plans regarding the fuel crisis is also being considered to cushion the anticipated fuel crisis expected to impact the sector.
The crisis-responsive package is focused on four strategic pillars: food security and nutrition, fuel and energy security, fertilizer supply and price stabilization, and agricultural logistics and freight cost stabilization.
Assistant Minister Inosi Kuridrani emphasized that the aim is to also identify and address gaps following TC Vaianu in order to better protect farmers from future natural disasters.
