Members of the Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group in Nukukaisi, West Bauro, Makira/Ulawa Province are reaping the reward of investing in their cocoa farms.
With funding support from the Solomon Islands Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SIART) Project, a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) and the World Bank, the community at Nukukaisi are now operating their small agribusiness and contributing to their Savings Club which has brought significant financial benefits to community members, including women and children.
The Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group is among nineteen Agribusiness Organisations (ABPOs) in Makira/Ulawa Province that have signed grant agreements with SIART and are implementing their business plan activities across key agricultural commodities.
With a working capital provided by SIART under the grant agreement, the Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group are able to purchase wet beans from their members and from farmers in the surrounding communities.
The wet beans are then fermented and dried using a processing shed also funded under the project before being shipped off to the capital Honiara, usually on a monthly basis.
With one shipment the community can make up to SBD120,000, all of which is been invested back into the Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group.
According to the Group’s Chairman, Mr Joseph Rangisiria, during high crop they produce 25 to 30 bags of dry cocoa for one shipment which earns them around SBD100,000 to SBD120,000.
“We spend around SBD70,000 on our expenses which includes purchase of wet beans from our members and their labour cost and also the hiring of vehicles to purchase beans from farmers in nearby communities.
“As a community of household farmers, this is a good profit for us which we invest back into the Group to continue with the purchase of wet beans and continue to provide the service to our members and the people of our communities,” he said.
Currently the Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group have 32 households as members.
“Our members are really benefitting from our group as they earn an income when we purchase their beans, we pay labour costs to our members and at the end of the year members receive their shares from the group which enables them to meet financial commitments like school fees for their children in the coming year,” he added.
Mr Rangisiria said by investing their profits back into their savings group, they are able to continue to pay for wet beans during low crop.
“It is common during low crop for buyers to stop purchasing beans from farmers. However, for us with this savings group and the support capital provided by SIART we are able to continue business during low crop and this is providing a good service for our local farmers,” he said.
While a majority of members of the Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group have farms with a target of 500 cocoa trees, there are some members that only have less than a hundred trees.
As such, the group is also working with SIART to expand the focus to support farmers to develop their farms to a good level.
The Chairman acknowledges the SIART module as very practical for communities.
“This is because communities implement their respective projects as part of a group to ensure they meet expectations which I believe is having a big impact in our communities.
“For our group alone here in Nukukaisi, I have seen the growth in terms of our farms, capital and the assets for our group. I can confidently say that the growth has been 80% compared to when we did not receive support from the SIART Project,” he said.
Including the Vaimatesa Savings and Producer Group, the SIART Project has invested a total of SBD6.15 million through the 19 ABPOs in Makira/Ulawa Province.
SBD3.14 million in cocoa ABPOs, SBD2.30 million in coconut and the remaining on honey and small piggery projects.
The ABPO grants is to increase the production capacity of smallholder farmers in high-value crops, food crops, feed crops and small livestock in the project targeted areas.
It will also improve the quality of, and access to, extension services in crop production, small livestock production, and animal health services.
Ongoing implementation activities currently include the procurement of tools, equipment, and materials, construction of processing facilities, rehabilitation of farms, rollout of ABPO training programs, and the use of working capital through revolving funds to support product purchasing and marketing.
The SIART Project’s objective is to increase agricultural production and improve market access in selected value chains in Guadalcanal, Malaita, and Makira/Ulawa. Additionally, the project ensures a prompt and effective response in the event of an Eligible Crisis or Emergency.
- SIART Media Release
