Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways 5 Year Strategic Development Plan 2024 - 2028.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways' Strategic Development Plan is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of the policy is 5 years covering the period from 2024 to 2028. This Strategic Plan lays down strategies to achieve a resilient, inclusive, competitive, innovative and food secure agriculture sector. Five key strategic priorities of this Strategic Plan are, as follows: food and nutrition security; inclusive and sustainable livelihoods; climate resilience; commercializing agriculture; and improved performance and service delivery of the Ministry.
This Strategic Plan provides a clear strategic direction for the agriculture and waterways management in line with the National Development Plan. The Ministry will continue to improve food security at a sustainable level for all Fijian’s, by improving access to safe and nutritious food and making agriculture and food production more resilient, especially in the face of climate change, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Ministry will enhance agribusiness by supporting the building of inclusive and efficient food value chains. Efforts will be given to increase production and access to local, safe and nutritious food. Crop and livestock packages will be provided to targeted smallholder farmers. The awareness on local, safe and nutritious food will be raised. Training and technical advisory services will be provided to smallholder farmers. Multisector coordination of national food and nutrition security action will be improved. Primary and secondary school farm programmes will be supported under the school garden programme. Food and nutrition security policy will be endorsed and its initiatives will be implemented.
The Ministry will carry out activities to increase the income of smallholder farmers. Farming clusters will be formed and strengthened, and market support and training, mentoring and advisory services in technical, business, finance and marketing will be provided to them. The participation of women and youth in semi commercial agriculture will be increased. Youth and women farmers fora will be established in the provincies.
Sustainable resource management and climate smart agriculture will be adopted. Organic farming systems will be developed and promoted. New technologies and farm mechanization will be introduced and disseminated to farmers. The technologies for better management of pests and diseases will be developed. Land and water resources management will be improved in farming communities. Good agricultural practices and land conservation and improvement standards and guidelines will be developed. The knowledge and skills of farmers in sustainable resource management and climate smart agriculture practices will be improved. Farm waste management initiatives will be implemented. Degraded agricultural land will be identified and restored. Land use planning will be strengthened through the development of land use plans and collection of data on soil and land use cover. Water catchment areas will be rehabilitated, and irrigation schemes will be maintained in farms. Riverbank and coastal protection and flood control projects will be implemented. Drainage network will be developed for rural communities. Disaster risk management and recovery will be improved to increase the resilience of the agriculture sector as well as communities. Advice will be provided to farmers on livestock and crop emergency standards. Agricultural drought policy will be developed.
The Ministry seeks to increase diversified and inclusive agriculture sector contribution to Fiji’s economy. The Ministry will give efforts to increase domestic agricultural production, access to land and financial support for commercial agriculture, and the supply of domestic produce to tourism and export market. Commodity plans will be developed and updated for major commodities. Farm agro-input support will be provided. Quality seeds and planting materials will be produced, tested and made available to farmers. Agricultural land lease policy will be developed, and potential available arable land will be identified. Farm management and business skills will be strengthened. New export market opportunities will be explored.
The capacity and service delivery of the Ministry will be improved. The structure of the Ministry will be more effective and efficient with supportive systems. Staff training and up skilling programmes will be implemented. The formulation and implementation of agriculture sector policies and programmes will be improved. The use of information, communication and technology (ICT) will be improved and promoted to enhance adoption of research findings and innovation. Agricultural survey, evaluations and thematic studies will be conducted and disseminated.