Kevin Nyango
TechInPacific – The Agricultural sector of Pacific region held series of agricultural workshop events starting from April 29 – May 8, 2019. The events were Cross Learning Workshop (29 April – 2 May), Optimising the Performance of Producers’ Organisations (OPPO) Workshop (6 May – 7 May), and PIFON and Innov4AgPacific Workshop (8 May).
The Cross Learning Workshop focused on value chains and agri-business development, bringing together regional leaders of farmer organizations, agribusinesses, and community organizations. It enables participants to have feedbacks from leading experts from the industry, update their business models, as well as, training delivery plans. The workshop ended up with action plans, concrete tools, and training tools that will be applied regionally.
The second event, OPPO Workshop, brought together leaders of farmer/producer organizations, successful agribusiness, community organizations across seven Pacific Island countries. The workshop aimed at assisting these organizations through the OPPO approach and providing them with the right practical tools in order to upgrade value chains and enhance agribusiness development.
The last event, PIFON and Innov4AgPacific Workshop, was held at Hotel Tokatoka, Nadi, Fiji from April 29 – May 8, 2019. This year’s workshop run under the theme: Investment Readiness & Financial Inclusion. The event brought together agribusiness owners, community organizations, government representatives, financiers, development partners, Pacific Island farmers, and agribusiness society groups from the Agriculture and finance sector in the Pacific region to discuss key issues around Pacific agribusinesses and finance.
The workshop features a panel of discussions on topics such as agri-finance and business development, financial inclusion, digitalization, and mobilizing resources for agribusiness and nutrition-sensitive value chain development.
It also featured a practice of direct bank loan pitching by selected group of mini-OPPO participants. They pitched their business plans in front of real financiers and get direct feedback from them about the issues they addressed.
Among the pitching teams, three winning teams were selected to receive 17,000 euro for their business plans, including Kenneth for TraSeable Farms project, Maryjane for Solo Niu project, and Courtney for Namako Eco-Retreat project.
