Fiji - Stage 2
Discussion topic outcome
Women transformation Fiji has a delicate food system where women come last. Women should not only be treated as beneficiaries but be given equal opportunities and awareness should be done to men on the critical role women play in society especially when they make up majority of workforce in Agriculture (farm level). Traditional structure is a barrier where there is a lack of participation from women in important decision-making issues such as land, property rights, finance, education, farming, family, food, culture and other social norms. Land tenure decision making is dominated by men. Women
... Read moreare natural food gatherers but we never value as important because it is part of women's role in Fiji. Digital inclusion of rural communities add value to the food supply chain. It will open avenues for entrepreneurship and promotion of products that different villages specialize in. Being digitally inclusive helps women use digital platforms for health, education, entrepreneurship and vital information for productive farming for planning, financial management and marketing skills. Financial management should be designed according to the need of farmers. Women drive a critical role in accessing finance. Rural women lack the capacity and knowledge of value adding to transform the food system effectively using fresh foods around them. Creating short videos is recommended to assist these women. Government to take the leading role to ensure less advertisement of unhealthy foods and more on healthy foods. More participation of women in food safety, training and implementation in the community settings, food wastes from schools, households and markets to be put to good use such as animal feeds. In coastal areas, most coastal fisheries are operated by women and there is a need for financial assistance, training, market opportunities and promote value adding, more collaboration with researchers, government and NGO and financial institutions. Enhance participation by targeting whole rural communities especially women and youths to ensure they understand what we want to do. Youth Transformation A key barrier for youth participation particularly in the pacific is social and cultural dimensions. Need to better understand the aspirations of the youths, differentiated by gender, class, ethnicity and other forms of differences, to enable sustainable food systems - through regular engagements as dialogues or think tanks and incorporate these into institutional planning for government agencies and organizations. Encourage and develop leaders in the community that actively include youths in the food systems such as Nayarabale Youths are encouraged to plant village land and were able to sell crops worth $66,000.00. Raising awareness amongst youth on the importance of growing your own foods and empowering them to take up ideas that are practical to them. Education programs through technical institutions on food systems curriculum specifically developed to address the challenge of increased literacy and capacity in the food systems and get champions to show Youths how we can promote Youth involvement. Food Science and Technology has been marketed, thoughts have been placed on how we can entice Youths to join Food Science and Technology. Rural Communities and Informal Settlements Communities need to take ownership of initiatives in the food systems and to ensure that roles and responsibilities can be clearly understood by all to allow sustainability. Recognize community local/traditional knowledge and include new approaches to complement this knowledge. Human resource is an ongoing issue while capacity and interest is a huge challenge. Sustainability of programs is a challenge due to limited resources - more complex food and value adding systems, lack of funding support and lack of community collaboration in policy formulation. Gap assessment in rural and informal settlement participation in food system is to enable us to look at vulnerability through an intersectional lens (e.g. gender, ethnicity, economic status, (dis)ability). Adhere to what already works well in communities, promote a participatory approach e.g. Read less
Action Track(s): 1, 3, 4, 5
Keywords: Environment and Climate, Governance, Innovation, Policy, Women & Youth Empowerment