Farmers & MAL Livestock and extension officers on training in Indonesia

Selected farmers and officers of the Ministry of Agriculture’s livestock department are currently attending a month long training on broiler rearing, breeding, feeding and housing management in Indonesia.

The 20-person delegation from the provinces and MAL left the country on Saturday 7^th October. Their training began on 9^th October at Indonesian Centre for Livestock Training (ICLT) Batu City, East Java, Indonesia.

The training is to improve the capacity and knowledge of broiler farmers and agricultural livestock and extension with Indonesian best practices in broiler rearing, breeding, feeding and housing management. The training is multifaceted and very practical oriented to embed new skills to ensure the poultry sector steps up into the new dynamic of the Agriculture NewDay Strategy to deliver the Agriculture Sector Growth Strategy Investment Plan (ASGSIP) 2022 – 2030.

In encouraging the participants the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Lottie Vaisekavea said, “You are the pioneers of a new agriculture SI and the DCGA government desires for our country.” Many more like you will follow as MAL moves to build the new farmer profile as the foundation of the new stable and sustainable production function to support the private sector and the value chain. This will ensure that increasing export, improved economies of scale and pivoting on the domestic market will become naturalized again.

Broiler farming involves raising poultry for meat. The SI has arrived at a demographic dynamic where agriculture and cross-sectoral opportunities for sustainable socio-economic and food security and nutrition now exist. For that to be of service to SI requires a new foundation of agriculture entrepreneurship and stewardship to be built. A new farmer postured and relevant to the future.

According to the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Extension and Human Resources Development, the Indonesian Center for Livestock Training Batu and the Ministry of Agriculture, the training will impart specialized training in broiler production, empowering the Solomon Islands to diversify its food supply, providing its population with a more balanced and nutritious diet.

SI is shifting to a new dynamic of self-sufficiency in meat production, import substitution and reliance on imports. In this we have to reconcile relevance of local production to maintain a competitive transaction to functionalize self-reliance.

The building of a robust broiler industry offers local farmers new opportunities for income generation and employment. The skills acquired through this training empower individuals and the sub-sector to establish poultry businesses, creating sustainable livelihoods and driving socio-economic growth at farmer and production level.

It breaks the dependency farmer profile that is now irrelevant.

The training arrangement is a South-South technical arrangement within the Bilateral relationship the GCGA government has fostered with Indonesia.

It increases farmers capacity to adopt and adapt to modern and efficient poultry farming practices enhancing productivity and production and supports responsible resource management and environmental sustainability.

The training program is funded by the Government of the Republic Indonesia. The training will end on the 5^th of November 2023.

The new farmer profile requires many more of this new kind of training. MAL is looking ahead to lock in more farmer opportunities to accelerate our baseline to a new deliberate and sustainable agriculture production.

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Source: MAL Media