Communities in Fiji have been growing a variety of crops for generations and have developed a deep understanding of how to work with the land on which they live to produce food.

But with changing conditions due to climate change, several of the Fijian communities participating in Climate Resilient Islands have elected pathways focused on creating more resilient farming systems.

Part of this requires the skills and knowledge to do as much as possible with the food that community produces, and making it last as long as needed, through various means of preservation and processing.

The CRI Fiji team recently conducted these sessions in Nakalou, Nawailevu, Dreketi, Naiqaqi, Laucala and Valeni, focusing on processing root crops in gluten-free flours, drying fruits, preserving herbal teas and spices and reusing cooked crops to make roti, noodles, biscuits and other foods.

The sessions – delivered alongside equipment like steel basins, cooking spoons, aprons, knives, jars and many other items needed for preserving and processing food – were welcomed by the communities.

‘The villagers viewed the training as a very important training, as food is one of the basic necessities of our daily life,’ said the Fiji CRI team.

‘They have become aware of the traditional food preservation methods that have faded through past generations and have found the training very important due to the resources that are readily available within their community that is much more healthy and affordable, saving them more money than travelling to towns and cities to obtain food that can be easily processed within their own community.’

Attended by between 30-55 people in each community, including significant representation from women and young people, the training has not only provided knowledge and equipment, but has also encouraged people to become less dependent on stores and food from outside the community.

‘Now there will be no more buying of flours, as now we can make our own,’ said one participant from Nakalou. ‘And there will be no more leftover cassava, as they will be converted to cassava roti.’

One participant from Valeni learned a simple and convenient use for coconut, a commonly sourced plantation crop there, saying that ‘the training has made us realise that we can just sun-dry out scraped coconut in the sun to get our coconut oil.’

Dreketi residents too have found they will be able to save money by no longer needing to buy flour.

‘Thank you very much for the awareness in regards to our staple root crops (like cassava, taro, plantain, breadfruit and sweet potato) converting them into flour,’ they said. ‘Now, we will not waste most of our money into buying food from the shop when we have the available resources around us.’

The CRI team has already seen flour being made by these communities on subsequent visits, demonstrating an immediate impact of this pathway. For most locations, this training is complementing organic farming training, tools and crop distribution and planting and sustainable land management training, with these now completed in most locations and scheduled for the coming months in others. In Valeni and Dreketi, this also recently include farming as a business training, assisting communities with commercialising their farming, helping with decision making, setting business plans and more.

By the end of the programme, these pathways will result in a significant increase in locally sourced food, less income being spent on food and more climate-resilient growing practices.

Climate Resilient Islands is a New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade initiative implemented by Live & Learn.