Vanua Levu, Fiji – Climate-change-induced disasters, such as droughts in Fiji, negatively impact food and nutrition security. To address this, on May 18, U.S. Ambassador Marie Damour launched a USAID Pacific American Fund 2.2 million Fijian dollars ($1.0 million USD) award to Live & Learn Environmental Education Fiji (Live & Learn Fiji) to work with affected rural communities of the drought-prone areas in Vanua Levu, Northern Division of Fiji, to improve vulnerable households’ resilience.
Working in partnership with the Fiji Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Live & Learn Fiji will provide training, assist with the development of climate-resilient backyard farming and agroforestry production, and help connect communities to markets.
With support from USAID’s Pacific American Fund, Live & Learn Fiji will strengthen the capacity of communities to address the interlinked challenges of climate change, rural poverty, food insecurity, and land degradation.
U.S. Ambassador Marie Damour joined local communities in Nasea today to celebrate the award. “I commend Live and Learn Fiji for partnering directly with local and national governments to ensure that their efforts are integrated into communities and reflect the needs of all of a community’s citizens.” She said “I also greatly appreciate Live and Learn Fiji’s commitment to continued innovation, learning, and adaptation, and look forward to seeing how they are able to scale and replicate this work for years to come”.
Live & Learn Fiji will be working with communities to improve water catchment management practices, including rainwater harvesting and introduce community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) approaches and inclusive community-based disaster risk management and planning.
The project seeks to reduce climate change disaster risks and their impacts and improve food and nutrition security for 500 farming households in 29 communities, with particular focus on women, youth, and persons with disabilities.