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Working with various stakeholders, the Fijian agricultural sector is committed to putting quality over quantity especially when exporting to foreign markets.

Biosecurity Authority of Fiji Senior Veterinary Officer Chaminda Dissanayake emphasizes the move toward small-scale farming to guarantee that produce meets the high standards required by foreign consumers.

The senior veterinary officer believes that Fiji can still maintain a high-quality standard while focusing on small-scale farming.

“We are not really going for commercial agriculture and we are going for the small-scale, and then we’re getting that one for the market. The quality-wise, I think, still we can maintain, but it’s not really far from what the New Zealand customers are requiring.”

Dissanayake raises concerns regarding potential health issues which can also affect the continuous flow of the product.

J&P Turner Group Chair Jeffery Turner stresses the importance of growers working together to establish a critical mass.

“So that you have the volume to supply the market continually, consistently, and keep the opposition out. Leave a gap and someone will put it and that’s what’s happened over the years with bananas and ginger and many other things, but you need to establish, as I said, where the market potential is.”

The Forum states that by concentrating on these goals, Fiji hopes to enhance its standing as a reliable supplier of quality agricultural goods.