News

Risk analysis critical for agriculture

November 24, 2014 6:50 pm

Minister for Agriculture Inia Seruiratu says risk analysis and management is critical for the agriculture industry given the number of natural disasters that affect our country.

Seruiratu says between 1995 and 2004 the costs for disasters were about $547 million which is almost unaffordable for small economies like ours.

He says the agriculture ministry has been assisting farmers to adapt to better management practices and new technologies to help combat natural disasters.

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“Agriculture is high risk business and for us in Fiji particularly we are prone to a lot of natural disasters and other phenomena’s that is why such workshops are important for us. We need to learn from the experiences of other countries particularly the Asia Pacific region and those that have models to address such issues when they arise and most importantly for us it’s about maintaining particularly for our farmers.”

Seruiratu says he consulting with the Food and Agriculture Organization to explore provisions for some form of insurance protection for famers to cover them for unforeseen circumstances like natural disasters.

He says the five days Asian Productivity Workshop on Financial Risk Analysis and Risk Management in Agribusiness will help formulate better strategies.
The workshop is being held in Nadi.