Empowering women and youth by providing financial accessibility fosters an important opportunity to further the economy through the agriculture sector.

Agriculture Ministry’s permanent secretary, David Kolitagane says there is a strong need to empower women and youth in the agriculture sector and to link them up with financial services.

He was speaking at a stakeholder workshop which has brought together various Ministries and Government bodies that are working in rural development, agriculture, youth, and women.

Kolitagane says though it is not always reflected in official statistics, Fiji suffers from an aging farming problem whereby around 66 percent of farmers are over the age of 40.