Tuesday, 30th August 2022
The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in collaboration with Ministry of Environment and Agriculture Development (MELAD) launched the Home Gardening and Agribusiness Training program to support the growth of Kiribati agriculture sector. The program is being deliver under the GGGI-led Climate Smart Agriculture for Kiribati (KCSA) project, which is funded by the Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD).
The event was hosted at Tekaiga maneaba Ambo, commencing from 10:00am to 12:00pm and was attended by the Honorable Minister for MELAD Mr. Ruateki Tekaiara, Deputy High Commissioner from the Australian High Commission, GoK officials, the Mayor from Teinainano Urban Council, Councilors from two councils Teinainano Urban Council (TUC) and Betio Town Council (BTC), local media and GGGI local staff in person, with GGGI Country Representative Mr. Daniel Munoz-Smith and staff attending virtually.
The Honorable Minister Mr. Tekaiara presented the opening remarks followed by remarks from GGGI Country Representative and the KCSA Project Manager.
The minister acknowledge that this is the first program targeting the agribusinesses which is much needed to stimulate the agriculture sector. In his closing remarks, he stated that he is looking forward to the results of the training programs and will be keen to hear on the experiences from the participants.
The two trainings launched were; i) the home gardening and ii) agri-business training & mentoring.
The home garden training program will train 25 women and youth on basic agriculture skills to setup their backyard garden to provide nutritious fresh vegetables for their family. A total of 100 participants will be trained in 2022 and 2023 therefore we would like to encourage our youths and women to be on the lookout for this great opportunity in future.
For the Agri-business mentoring and training program, a total of 55 businesses will be supported in 2022 and 2023. The training program will provide a good platform to emerging enterprises to acquire business skills, technical knowledge and access seed grant funding of up to USD10,000 to expand or set up their business.
GGGI’s Country Representative, Mr Daniel Muñoz Smith noted that “Climate smart agriculture can play a critical role in addressing these challenges and supporting the agriculture sector in Kiribati. Climate smart agriculture presents an opportunity to introduce low cost, green technology solutions into schools, communities and agri-businesses”.
He further encouraged schools, women & youth and businesses in the agriculture sector to take up more future opportunities through the Climate Smart Agriculture project, similar to the trainings being launched today.
The Climate Smart Agriculture for Kiribati is a 3-year project funded by QFFD and implemented by GGGI in collaboration with MELAD. The project’s total funding is USD1.8 million (approximately AUD2.4 million). The project aims to increase agricultural productivity, improve food security, livelihoods, health and nutrition of the local communities.