Project Name：Horticulture Expansion Project (Tuvalu)

Project status：Completed projects

Cooperating Country：Asia-Pacific, Tuvalu

Project Description：The Government of Tuvalu has recognized of the outcomes of the demonstration farm managed in cooperation with Taiwan. To date, the area of the farm has increased five-fold, but due to land limitations in Funafuti (about 2.6 square kilometers), there is no more vacant land that the government could provide through which to expand the scale of cultivation at the site.

With the long distances between Tuvalu’s eight outer islands and the uncertain schedule of transport ships, the emphasis of agricultural extension activities was originally focused on the capital. The largest outer island, Vaitupu (home to about 20 percent of the population), has been unable to receive the benefits of the crops provided by the demonstration farm. The government’s national development strategies (Te Kakeega II Mid-Term Review: Action Plan 2015) specify “increased production and consumption of local produce” as the country's main agricultural development strategy, while the WHO has been similarly clear that an inadequate intake of vegetables is one of the 10 most important factors influencing mortality throughout the world.

The problem of low intake of fruits and vegetables is particularly serious in Vaitupu. Project appraisal found the following reasons:

1. Elisefou, Vaitupu’s agricultural center, is situated in shallow sand, so there is a lack of irrigable water and water is hard to store. Moreover, the road to the agricultural center has not been properly designed for agricultural activities.
2. Local people tend to eat lettuce, but the high average temperature makes this crop difficult to grow (leaf lettuce can also be produced in tropical areas). There has been no promotion of the growth of heat tolerant and/or alkali- and drought-resistant varieties.
3. Officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and farmers in Vaitupu need more guidance, but there is no proper agricultural training center.
4. Students in Vaitupu have a low intake of fiber. Knowledge and related information about nutrition, and especially about dietary fiber, is generally lacking among local people.

In order to assist the residents of Tuvalu to enhance their intake of fruits and vegetables, the main content of this Horticulture Expansion Project will include:

1. Establishing an agriculture workstation.
2. Building the capacity of agricultural personnel.
3. Promoting nutrition-related teacher training to support the design of teaching materials and the promotion of nutrition courses.
4. Providing fruits and vegetables to students in Vaitupu, and holding nutrition-related activities so as to improve students’ intake of fruits and vegetables.

The project’s specific work components will include:

1. Establishing an agricultural workstation in Vaitupu.
2. Guiding twelve staff at the workstation to raise output to 330 tons of fruits and vegetables.
3. Training four teachers specializing in nutritional promotion to design a set of nutritional promotion programs.
4. Enhancing intake of fruits and vegetables by providing students with up to 80 tons of fruits and vegetables for group meals and holding 10 nutrition-related activities.

To watch the video made by the TaiwanICDF: Horticulture Expansion Project (Tuvalu)

Implementation Start Date：2015-01-01

Implementation End Date：2020-12-31

Project Objectives：

1. Fatoaga Fiafia Farm and promotion in Funafuti:
   1. Propagate and promote horticultural crops and promote  home gardening (over 7.8 hectares).
   2. Produce 785,000 fruit and vegetable seedlings.
   3. Produce 600 tons of compost.
   4. Produce 140 tons of fruits and vegetables.
   5. Hold 24 training workshops to strengthen the agricultural capabilities of staff.
   6. Hold six field-planning demonstrations.
2. Elisefou Agricultural Center and promotion in Vaitupu:
1. Establish an agricultural workstation, building capacity among two officers and nine staff.
2. Produce 365,000 fruit and vegetable seedlings, 600 tons of compost and the agricultural center itself, and promote school and home gardening (producing 190 tons of fruits and vegetables over 31 hectares of cultivable areas).
3. Hold 22 training workshops; train four teachers specializing in nutritional promotion to design a set of nutritional promotion programs.
4. Hold six field-planning demonstrations.

Executing Agency：1.Ministry of Natural Resources (Tuvalu)
2.Taiwan Technical Mission in Tuvalu

Current Progress：

To the end of December 2020, the following activities have been completed:

1.     Reclaimed 3 hectares via the Elisefou Agricultural Station on Vaitupu.

2.     Built an irrigation facility with over 200 tons of storage capacity on Vaitupu.

3.     Managed a total of 50.97 hectares on the main island, Funafuti (Fatoaga Fisfia and home gardens 12.84 hectares; Vaitupu 38.13 hectares).

4.     Produced a total of 1,560,778 fruits and vegetables seedlings (Funafuti: 1,131,541; Vaitupu: 429,237)

5.     Produced 277,9704 tons of fruits and vegetables at the two agricultural centers (Funafuti:154.0894 tons; Vaitupu:123.881 tons)

6.     Produced 1,587.15 tons of organic compost (Funafuti:737 tons; Vaitupu:853.15 tons)

7.     Conducted 12 demonstration activities.

8.     Conducted 47 training workshops.

Project Contact：Shih-Kuan,Chen

Phone：886-2-2873-2323 EXT.206

E-mail：s.k.chen@icdf.org.tw

Projected Benefits：

It is expected that the project will:

1. See the extension of cultivation and planting over 38.8 hectares in Funafuti and Vaitupu.
2. Yield 1.15 million seedlings (including seedlings and nursery plants).
3. Yield 1,200 tons of compost.
4. Yield 330 tons of fruits and vegetables.
5. See the organization of 46 training workshops (including for staff, nutrition promotion teachers, schools and students).
6. See the organization of 12 publications promoting project results.

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in Tuvalu