Back to the land for Fijian hillside farmers

Fijian hillside farmers

About 24 300 ha of hilly and

largely undeveloped Fijian

owned land is gradually being

brought into production at

Yalavou. in south-west Viti Levu under an Australian aid project. The aim is to establish 103 individual farm holdings,

with emphasis on livestock

grazing.

The project is the largest agricultural development pro posal for which Australian aid has been sought in the South

Pacific. Initially, it is expected

that about 500 people will benefit directly from the pro ject. The ultimate carrying ca pacity is expected to reach about 8 400 head of cattle and 1 400 goats.

Fiji has been aiming at self ;ufficiency in beef for many /ears, and Yalavou will go some of the way towards ichieving that aim. There are housands of hectares of hilly

:ountry in Fiji, chiefly Viti

and Vanua Levu suitable

for cattle grazing, but little else.

Aerial fertilisation would ensure an adequate supply of feed.

One of the principal objec tives at Yalavou is to increase rural participation in the

national economy by involving

Fijian landholders in cattle raising. Yalavou could be the

pilot project (on a huge scale)

for other parts of Fiji. It is

expected to bring important

social benefits.

A firm of Australian consult ants engaged to investigate the

project completed its surveying

in May, 1976. Following a study of the recommendations and explanation to the com munal landholders of the development benefits and their

obligations, the Fiji Govern

ment asked Australia to im plement the project and

emphasised the high priority

and critical importance it had in Fiji’s overall development.

Important components of

the project will be the establishment of a local farm and service centre devoted to farmer training and super vision, and construction of 90 km of access roads, together with other infrastructure.

Although the project’s econ

omic rate of return is not high, and the number of farmers taking part is necessarily lim ited. the Fiji Government be lieves success will encourage the development of other areas of Fijian land.and will assist in

accelerating the divergence in

rural and urban incomes.

The project is estimated to involve an investment of 5A7.522 million over 10 years, of which Australia’s share will be about $3.83 million, prin cipally for consultant manage ment fees, plant and equipment, road construction, farm and other infrastructure

development, and the purchase

and shipment of cattle from Australia and within Fiji. The Fiji Government will meet local costs, estimated at $2,037 million, and the Fiji Develop ment Bank is expected to advance loans of $1,655 million over the life of the project.

Care has been taken to ensure that development takes account of social and environ mental factors. The pilot farm will be established first, with work on basic community facilities simultaneously with individual farm development.

Watershed protection and development will take place in the fourth year of the project.

About 2 830 ha will be devel oped and managed as a water shed protection reserve.

Because of the need to ensure that implementation of the project is responsive to lessons learned in the early

phases, progress in achieving

planned objectives will be monitored. The evaluation will be quite independent from the management of the project and will be undertaken by an insti tution or consultant firm in conjunction with the Aus tralian Development Assist ance Bureau.

The Yalavou Rural Devel opment Board, consisting of representatives of landowners and the Fiji Government, was established in January. The project general manager also started work in January.