$200K Budget to Empower Landowners and Support Cottage Industries
The Coalition Government’s commitment to ensuring that its development work is reflected in the lives of the people and communities it serves is evident in the support of forest-based companies and resource owners.
This is through the Forest Subsidy Programme allocation where the Ministry of Forestry is allocated $200,000 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
To support forest-based businesses and resource owners who were frequently worse off and left behind under the previous administration, there has been an increase of more than 100 percent in funding designated for forest subsidies on value-adding machines.
Landowners who have leased their property to mahogany plantations are included in this programme which is managed by the Forest Products, Trade and Training (FPTT) Division.
The programme focuses on assisting forest-based Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by purchasing value-adding machinery and offering training to these MSMEs.
The Ministry helped 19 youths—including four women—from the villages of Sote, Savu and Naimasimasi in the Vugalei District of Tailevu through the conduct of a six-month training during the 2022–2023 fiscal year with just $50,000 allocated for this programme.
Basic tree harvesting, sawmilling, wood processing, timber machining, furniture making and carpentry work were all covered in the training.
Since the Forest Subsidy Programme's inception in 2015, it has gained momentum, sparking interest from hoteliers and retailers in the products made at our Nasinu centre by the landowners themselves.
This is an example of how the Ministry has successfully engaged the community, especially resource owners. The allotted $200,000 will be used to buy value-adding machinery to help cottage industries launch their own value-adding ventures.
They have so far received orders from local clients like Vision Investments Limited and the Grand Pacific Hotel.
In addition, the Ministry’s close engagement with the Vugalei community saw the birth of a cooperative, the Gaunavou Cooperative Limited (GCL). This is a first for the Ministry.
GCL has recently signed a one-year Memorandum of Understanding for Public Private Partnership between the landowners, the Vision Group and key Government agencies.
This means that wooden products from the cottage industries will be marketed and available for purchase from Courts Fiji Ltd.
The Ministry will continue to follow this model in supporting cottage industries and forest based MSMEs with the overall goal of improving livelihood and socio-economic growth.
Permanent Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry, Mrs Atelaite Rokosuka said that the Ministry places a high priority on developing small businesses for the purpose of fostering economic growth in the forest sector.
“According to the Government's national development plan, which aims to "improve the socioeconomic impact of the forest and its people," this programme is in line with the commitment to Fiji's national development,” Mrs Rokosuka said.
“We applaud the budgetary support given to this programme, which aims to establish and support rural wood- or forest-based industries for the purpose of generating income and reducing poverty.”