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What a Wonderful Garden! The TaiwanICDF assists Tuvalu to develop an outer island farm to promote food security
Our allied Pacific country Tuvalu is highly dependent on food imports. In recent years, due to continuous population increases and the impact of the epidemic on international shipping, the Tuvalu government has sought Taiwan's assistance to ensure its national food security. The TaiwanICDF and the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) in Tuvalu have thus joined hands with the local government over the past 9 months to develop a new demonstration farm "Wonderful Garden" on an outer island. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on August 24, 2022 jointly by the Taiwanese Ambassador Andrew Lin, Acting Deputy Minister of Local Government and Ministry of Agriculture of Tuvalu, Epu Falega, and Australian High Commissioner to Tuvalu, Siale Suamalie. A total of more than 30 guests witnessed how TTM used Taiwan's agricultural technology to cultivate various fruit and vegetables according to local conditions, to stably provide for residents' daily needs and solve the problem of high dependency on food imports.
"Wonderful Garden" is located on the outer island of Funafala, about 40 minutes by boat from the capital island of Tuvalu. Due to the severe salinization of the soil, uneven rainfall, and lack of agricultural materials on the outer island, the TTM, Ministry of Local Government and Agriculture and the City Hall had to take advantage of the high tide to transport the required building materials to the outer island. In addition, the TTM introduced the agricultural circular economy of collecting local coconut leaves and pig manure to make organic compost. At the same time, TTM set up off-the-ground cultivation racks to overcome the problems of soil depletion and salinity, and set up water collection facilities to reduce water shortages or shocks.
"Wonderful Garden" currently produces 16 kinds of fruit and vegetables including leek, green onion, sweet pepper, eggplant, cabbage, corn, pumpkin, tomato, white radish, celery, cabbage, cucumber, ceylon spinach, amaranth and melon. The farm has a stable output of 300 kilograms per month, helping the country's residents achieve a diverse and healthy diet. Tuvalu was impressed by the TTM's ability to complete the establishment of "Wonderful Garden" in just 9 months despite the epidemic prevention measures and lockdown. "Wonderful Garden" highlights the technical cooperation achievements and friendship between Taiwan and Tuvalu.
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- Update: 2022/09/21
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