VECO Taro-Planting Project Eyes Huge Environmental Benefit

 Extract Article: Daily Post Vanuatu

Vunausi Environment Conservation Organization (VECO), a charitable organization from south Santo, is working with communities there to establish integrated farming approaches, to address improved farming, sustainable land management and food security and reduce pressure on natural resources.

Through VECO, observations were carried out to assess the challenges faced with addressing livelihood and environmental issues, and it was firmly agreed that an Integrated Farming System (IFS) utilizing the traditional farming approach will be the best approach.

This project approach aims to encourage community members to continue to apply their farming, focusing on traditional irrigation method with access to the water resource channeled to their farms and supply of planting materials of food crops potential to improve yield (such as water taro best selected varieties) and farming of freshwater prawn and other freshwater lives, such as shell fish and freshwater eel.

Funded by Global Green grant Fund through UNDP in Vanuatu, the project estimate around 5,000 taro plants per hectare on a 5-hectare land space. A total of 25, 000 taro plants is anticipated to be harvested in its first return.

Project Coordinator, Ioan Viji Vutilolo, a former Forestry senior officer said community members have stepped into the first stage of the project which includes identifying the farming site, establishing fencing, sourcing of planting materials and planting of taro materials.

“This is a community initiative and we have engaged community members to see the importance of utilizing traditional methods and integrating it to be more resilient, efficient and sustainable for healthy diet and food security,” he said.

The Integrated Farming System had been traditionally practiced but was abundant in the development of other land uses such as coconut plantation, cattle farming and subsistence farming for cash.

The latter is no longer viable as it is not earning that much to the community to address livelihood and food security.

Celina Ben, a community member said integrating water-taro farming is diminishing in South Santo particularly in their area but with this project, she believes more people and the younger generation can return to it for better land management use and benefits.

Mr. Vutilolo said part of the project activities includes, field day visit of the farm, water-taro display, and an awareness session on the overall project which will be an educational session on the system and the benefits it can bring to a community.

VECO has been involved in several community initiatives in the past and one of which is reforestation on coastal areas of Tangoa Mainland and supply of Mahogany seedlings to the community and other surrounding islands in Vanuatu.

VECO was formally registered as an NGO in 2015, managed and implemented by the Tangoa community and mainland area.