A bakery project supported by the iTaukei Trust Fund Board (TTFB) is catering to the needs of over 1000 people from 10 villages in Bua.

Assistant Minister for iTaukei Affairs Isikeli Tuiwailevu officially opened the Vuya Young Farmers Bakery on Monday and commended the youth group for their initiative.

The bread-making business was supported by the TTFB under a memorandum of understanding with the Tutu Rural Training Centre to provide post training, income generating initiatives for its graduates.

The bakery building was constructed in collaboration with the Centre for Appropriate Technology and Development (CATD) New Dawn Cooperative while Baking Industry Training (BIT) Fiji provided the equipment and technical training support.

Strategically located along the main road in Bua, the bakery currently caters for around 10 villages and communities who otherwise would have to travel up to 20 km to Nabouwalu, the nearest commercial center, to buy bread.

The bakery is the first project built on land dedicated for the Vuya Economic Hub and there are growing interests for other business opportunities .

The group have around 100 active members of which 15 young men and women have been trained and equipped to bake assorted bread and pastries which are sold at the bakery.

The bread-making business  is registered with the Ministry of Cooperatives and will work closely with TTFB for the monitoring, mentoring and capacity building over the next 3 years.

The bakery started with 5 bags of 25 kg flour and over the last two months have managed to process almost 200 bags of flour – a clear indication of the demand for bread and pastries in the Vuya district, and nearby communities.