A major milestone was achieved last night as the first pilot consignment of Fijian grown agricultural produce was exported to the Republic of Naoero, formerly known as Nauru , under the Memorandum of Understanding partnership between the Pacific Islands Development Forum and New Valley Processors (Fiji) Limited.

The first pilot consignment comprised of 54 boxes of export-quality fruits, vegetables and root crops grown and harvested by Fijian farmers across Viti Levu.

The produce included eggplants, long beans, telegraph cucumbers, English cabbage, cassava, watermelons, pineapples, tomatoes, taro leaves, taro, papayas, bananas, kumquats and lemons.

PIDF Secretary General, Arpana Pratap, was pleased with the quality of the produce and thanked New Valley for coordinating with the farmers to meet the first pilot consignment.

“The export of Fijian grown agriculture produces to the Pacific neighbors, such as the Republic of Naoero, demonstrates that Fiji’s agriculture sector has the potential to expand beyond the local market,”Pratap said.

“Fiji has fertile land, favorable climatic conditions and hardworking farmers that can till the land, grow vegetables and crops that has a demand in the Northern Pacific market. “

“While we encountered some challenges in preparing this first pilot consignment, we successfully worked through them. This achievement would not have been possible without the support of our project partners, including NVPL, Nauru Airlines and the dedicated farmers,” she said.

The exporting of agriculture produces from Nadi, Fiji to countries in the Northern Pacific such as the Republic of Naoero, is part of the Pacific Fresh AirLink (PFAL) initiative under the Food and Nutrition Security project that is coordinated by the PIDF.

The PFAL initiative was setup to support the export of fresh agricultural produce from Fijian farmers to regional markets, creating new economic opportunities for local producers while improving access to fresh and nutritious food in Pacific communities.

NVPL Chief Executive Officer, Navitalai Tuivuniwai said they visited the farmers across Viti Levu to ensure that the quality and quantity were met with the export market.

“This first pilot consignment involved a lot of planning, discussions and meeting the farmers as well to ensure that we are able to meet the deadline for the flight,” Tuivuniwai said.

“I am pleased that we were able to do so and we will continue to work with the PIDF to export more to the Northern Pacific because at the end of the day, our goal is to support and improve the economic livelihood of our farmers.”

“At New Valley, we supply seedlings to our cluster of farmers, which helps to scale the commercial production and processing of high-value crops and creating market opportunities for our growers.”

A Biosecurity Authority of Fiji official was also on site to conduct the necessary inspections before the loading of the consignment onto the Nauru Airlines flight that departed Nadi Airport last night and has since arrived in Naoero.