TANNA AGRICULTURE RECOVERY PROJECTVanuatu and in particular the rural agricultural communities of Tanna, are vulnerable to frequent disasters. Household incomes are around $40-60/month and fragile, being mainly dependent on the success of small, diversified crops. Income earned from cash crops enable families to send their children to school and access medical care. An estimated 80% of households are subsistence farmers, relying on what they grow for their food and basic income.
The main income for many communities has been from coffee; Nasi Tuan has formed a coffee co-op and introduced processing capability for parchment coffee. A key short-term cash crop is peanuts, which have always enjoyed strong local and tourist demand. Nasi Tuan have also pioneered markets for peanuts, and set up a peanut processing plant to roast and package peanuts for the tourist market. The peanut processing facility only sustained minor damaged in the cyclone. This means with peanuts being relatively fast growing, communities can begin supplying peanuts for increased returns. Communities also grow broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, tomatoes, dwarf onions, beans, lettuce, carrots, radish, cassava, kumala, taro, capsicum, garlic, chillies and ginger. This is an integrated agriculture program, it incorporates food security, cash cropping and value adding through organic certification and post harvest processing.
The programme will train farmers on best practice organic agriculture/ context appropriate technology and increase market opportunities through quality and quantity of yields
Nasi Tuan will continue to build the capacity of Talao coffee co-op and form PGS farmer groups (a form of peer review organic certification) Income will be generated through peanut and coffee production |
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Tanna Ag. Recovery Project (Phase II)
This activity will build on interventions started in Phase I of the recovery project. Nasi Tuan will utilise the networks created in phase I to further strengthen livelihoods and resilience in Cyclone Pam affected communities.