Minister for Agriculture and Waterways Vatimi Rayalu, seated left, with the Fiji Agromarketing executive chairman Jone Sovalawa, seated third from left, with staff members at its celebration dinner to mark the end of the 2022-2023 financial year and the beginning of the 2023-2024 financial year.

Published Date: August 14, 2023
By: Monika Singh

Fiji Agromarketing (AMA) must explore avenues to sufficiently and effectively carry our its government-funded services to the farmers and people in the rural communities.

This was the advice from the Minister for Agriculture and Waterways Vatimi Rayalu to the AMA staff during AMA’s celebration dinner to mark the end of the 2022-2023 financial year and the beginning of the 2023-2024 financial year.

Mr Rayalu said AMA staff members were duty-bound to serve and assist local farmers and people whose livelihoods solely depended on agriculture production.

“I can only salute your efforts for a job well done for the last financial year, but you must understand that whatever funds that we have comes in the form of taxpayers’ funds and that we must use funds that come our way prudently and see to it that every cent that we are given is put to good use,” Mr Rayalu said.

“The existence of your organisation is very much to do with the livelihood of our people who depend on agriculture production and agriculture primary resources, and you are the arm of government that service them.”

AMA executive chairman Jone Sovalawa assured that AMA staff members looked forward to the new financial year with great optimism, highlighting that AMA was mandated to reach the remote corners of the country to collect marketable agricultural commodities.

“The key messages passed by the Hon. Minister this afternoon in terms of the proper use of public funds is something that AMA is going to make sure it’s utilised according to the policies, procedures, and regulations of financial systems of government,” Mr Sovalawa said.

He said the AMA staff all around Fiji were ready to deliver to better the livelihoods of the rural farming population.

AMA aims to market for a sustainable rural economy and also to facilitate the purchase, sale, and export of agro and aqua produce to stimulate economic growth within rural, remote, and maritime communities.