SIART empowers local pig farmers to manage their agribusiness

Local farmers in Gwaonaoa village in West Kwara’ae, Malaita Province are relishing the opportunity to operate their own agribusiness.

For the past years, villagers there have been involved in the production and rearing of pigs where each family has their own pig housing and sells to surrounding communities, the provincial capital Auki as far as Honiara.

With support from the Solomon Islands Agriculture Rural Transformation (SIART) Project, farmers in Gwaonaoa now have a formal set up under the Arise Rural Farm Community Company Limited.

They are among 45 Agribusiness Producer Organizations (ABPOs) in Malaita Province who have signed a grant agreement with SIART, a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the World Bank.

“We are so thankful to the Ministry of Agriculture and the World Bank for their support through SIART in recognizing ways we can improve in terms of turning our farms into a business,” Chairperson, Anthony Aumae, said.

“It is a new learning process for us as we have not been into this kind of business before,” he said.

Under the agreement with SIART, the Arise Rural Farm Community Company Limited is set to benefit from a $200,000 grant for the construction of a breeding shelter and expansion of existing individual farmers’ pig housing including a revolving fund for the purchase of stock and feed.

Mr Aumae said the best approach to develop the agriculture sector is to assist local farmers and empower them by way of understanding the process and steps to gain maximum benefits from their farms.

“Thanks to this support from SIART, pig farmers in our community will be able to understand what is required in order to achieve maximum benefit through piggery,” he said.

Mr Aumae said their members, consisting of 17 households, are happy with the progress they have made in terms of the implementation of their agribusiness so far. 

“Members have their own permanent pig houses funded under the project. 

“Our process is that from our breeding shelter which is nearing competition, we supply our farmers with pig weaners and they fatten them ready to sell guided by policies set by our ABPO.

“Our members cannot achieve this alone so as their ABPO we will train them on how to gain maximum benefit for their pigs,” he said.

As part of the support, SIART also provides training for local farmers on pig husbandry and animal health and financial literacy training to enable them to manage their ABPO.

The objective of the ABPO Grants is to increase the production capacity of smallholder farmers in high-value crops, food crops, feed crops and small livestock in the project targeted areas. It will also improve the quality of, and access to, extension services in crop production, small livestock production, and animal health services.

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SIART statement