R.D.P MET WITH BUSINESS COMMUNITY IN HONIARA TODAY

A farmer at work at the Taiwan Technical Mission at KGVI, Honiara. Photo credit: SIBC.

The Government’s Rural Development Program has today met with a number of business firms and individuals in Honiara, in efforts to develop a support pool of business consultants for the program.

The Rural Development Program Manager Gabriel Hiele said the meeting will provide businesses development support through a partnership with the Program’s second component.

“This is a consultative meeting with business people or business firms which can provide business development support to partnerships under this RDP component number two program. Also, the other one is the ASEF (Agriculture Supplemental Equity Facility) through the banks or the business development support service providers that we may use to support people with loans to do agriculture enterprises.”

The Rural Development Program Manager also explained this is a new approach which will benefit everyone who is involved in this approach.

“We expect that the benefits be spread over all the actors within the value chain, they will benefit one way or another. However, the bulk of the grant will be going to the smallholders so that they can improve their production by probably rehabilitation, replanting and new planting, in that case, the increased production. So the supply of production to the traders and then eventually to the exporters will also increase and more money coming into the country.”