Teouma Farmers Association Trained In Food Preservation To Adapt To Climate Change

Friday 7th of February 2014, SPC-GIZ Vanuatu
This week, the Teouma Farmers Association on the island of Efate, Vanuatu, received their first ever training in solar food drying and preservation for adaptation to climate change.
Rural communities are coming under pressure as climate change impacts on agricultural productivity are becoming more evident –rainfall, cyclones and heat, shifting weather patterns, and soil degradation are becoming serious hazards to local food security.  The Teouma Farmers Association has over 100 members all of whom contribute to the supply of local products to Port Vila’s main market and to area hotels and resorts. Much of the local foods consumed in Port Vila derive from Teouma, and sadly climate change is severely affecting production there.

Women Farmers with their new preserve food for food security

The SPC-GIZ Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Island Region programme has, in partnership with local government agencies and NGOs, been implementing a food preservation training courses for the past two years. With the help of island-based expert Ni-Vanuatu trainers, the people of Teouma got the chance to construct a sustainable solar food dryer, and learned to produce a variety of fruit, nut and vegetable products.
The solar food dryer is a simple and inexpensive wooden construct using two small solar panels and two fans in the inside of the dryer.  The dryer works as the fans push hot dry air evenly over the local foods. The dryer can operate even in the cloudy weather conditions common in Vanuatu.
Teouma Community members were educated about climate change and its consequences on food security. Subsequently they were trained not only in the preparation of foods for drying, but also of a range of other preserved products, such as jams, juices and chips. Finally they packaged their products and learned how to appropriately price and market them. They were made aware of the advantage of preserved food not only in terms of a secure food supply, but also increased income possibilities.
This first-ever food preservation training was gratefully received by the Teouma community at large.   “It is greatly useful to be able to store food for times of need. That way we will also save on travel expenses, as we do not have to rush to sell fresh food in the market”, says Pierre Tapisop, Chief of a neighbouring community. “This opens new possibilities to us, as with the option to preserve food, we will have much less waste than in the past”, agrees Charlie Willie, chairman of the Teouma Farming Association.
In response to the question as to how they will invest income from their dried agricultural products, all answered in unison: “school fees”!

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