In the rural setting of Lungga, members of the Belaha Community are currently attending a series of Agriculture Short Training courses as part of the Community Benefit Sharing Project's (CBSP) Technical and Vocational Education and Training Component. The tailored courses, which will run over 3 days, are designed to upskill locals in the Tina catchment with a focus in the agriculture sector to be job ready for any future opportunities to earn income from farming.
The workshops, which are open to all benefit share communities and will eventually train all eligible members, will cover topics such as nursery production, compost training, soil management and pest and disease management. This week, 30 participants with an even split of male and female are attending round 1 of training.
CBSP's Coordinator Francis Kapini said this will be the first in a series of short agriculture training courses for all benefit share communities within the Tina River Hydro Project catchment and will be facilitated by Pasifiki HR staff. “The TVET training underpins a holistic approach to ensure all people in communities within the Tina catchment, benefit in various ways from our Program.” he said.
“Given agriculture makes up a large part of rural communities livelihood, it makes sense for us to offer practical workshops that targets this sector.”
Christopher Lihoti is one of the participants attending the training and his expectation from attending the workshop is to learn more farming techniques to use back in his community.
“I’ve learned about several forms of nursery planting that could improve our crops and discovered there are also varieties of nursery plants that could be beneficial to our agriculture.” he said.
Francisca Chuba, another eager participant said the training is a first of its kind organized for her community. “The training is an opportunity to help people in my community expand their knowledge on different farming methods and put what they learn into practical use everyday.” she said.
The CBSP program is designed to enhance the positive impacts of the Project to the communities in the catchment area by the investment in basic services and infrastructure for the local communities; as well as providing training and opportunities to earn income.