25 September 2014
Australia partners with Kastom Gaden Association to establish Guadalcanal food gardens following April floods
Staff from the Australian High Commission and Kastom Gaden Association this week on Tuesday visited Papagu and New Birao communities on the Guadalcanal Plains to see new food gardens that were established following the April floods.
With support from the Australian Government, Kastom Gaden Association implemented a comprehensive food security and livelihood rehabilitation program following the floods, to ensure affected communities recovered quickly after the disaster.
Australia also funded another local organisation, Solo Enviro Beautification, to grow thousands of vegetable seedlings. These were distributed to farmers by Kastom Gaden Association as part of their garden replanting activities.
Over the past four months Kastom Gaden Association has been working with twelve flood affected communities across Guadalcanal to establish demonstration food gardens, provide agricultural training and distribute vegetable seedlings and other planting material.
Papagu Chief, Leone Thugea said “We are happy with the new skills acquired during the training. The new methods of planting and mulching have made gardening much easier and we are now planting many different kinds of crops and vegetables in one garden. This is giving us a good selection of crops to eat at home and sell at the market”.
Mr Brendan Peace, Development Counsellor from the Australian High Commission, was pleased to see the Papagu and New Birao communities replanting their food gardens and rebuilding their lives. “It is great to see Australia’s support for Kastom Gaden Association assisting your communities to re-establish their livelihoods after the devastating floods” he told the gathered farmers.
For many rural families in Solomon Islands, food security comes from their gardens, as well as from resources collected from the forest, river or sea. The floods in April washed away many of the food crops and fruit trees that people depended on for their survival.