Moves for smarter, competitive strategies
By MARAIA VULA
Government is taking positive steps to modernise our agricultural sector by reviewing the agricultural policies and systems
The Ministry of Agriculture will then come up with smarter strategies in order to survive in this competitive world.
Minister for Agriculture, Lieutenant-Colonel Inia Seruiratu, has indicated Government is looking at changes from production right through to the market level.
Lieutenant-Colonel Seruiratu was speaking during the Virgin Coconut Oil and Value Added Products Training graduation ceremony yesterday.
The graduation ceremony was held at the Ministry of Agriculture in Raiwaqa, Suva.
He said one of the key failures from the past was that the focus was only on production side.
“We were producing for the sake of producing but we were not sensitive enough to the needs of the market,” Lieutenant-Colonel Seruiratu said.
“In this modernisation plan, it is the market demand that will shape and dictate how we produce.
“So it is demand that will drive production. It is no longer production for the sake of production.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Seruiratu said people need to understand what are the demands and standards of the market.
Changing with time
The Minister stressed the importance of understanding where the agriculture sector is heading.
“The environment has changed and it has changed significantly over the years,” he said.
“The challenge for everyone is to adjust and to shift our paradigm so that we are competitive within the environment that we are currently experiencing,” he said.
“We need to modernise because if you look at our policies, strategies and activities that we are currently undertaking, some of these policies and strategies no longer have that strategic fit because the environment has change.
“Today it is not only the fittest which will survive and it is not only the smartest which will survive, it is those that adjust to change and therefore managing changes is very important.
“So for Fiji’s agricultural sector to be competitive and viable and sustainable, there needs to be a shift.”
The challenge
Lieutenant-Colonel Seruiratu said the biggest challenge for stakeholders and the ministry was to change their paradigm.
“Without shifting your paradigm, you cannot change anything. We are so comfortable with the practices of yester-years,” he said.
“But that was under a different environment totally. The external environment has changed and will continue to change.
“But what does it mean to us – processes must change internally. Organisations must change, the systems and policies must change – even our attitudes must change.
“We have learnt from our failures and successes. We need to sustain our successes and our failures – we need to improve on those areas.”