Maloku fishermen learn theory at training sessions. Photo credit: MDG.
Five female cousins have established the Moala Development Group Live Seafood Export, which aims to empower villagers from Moala Island in Fiji’s Lau Province, and have changed their own lives in the process.
Driven by 38-year-old IT consultant Bulou Gavidi Draunidalo and funded by the US Embassy Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Small Grants initiative, the Moala Development Group project aims to improve living standards in the eight villages of Moala by encouraging villagers to farm and harvest seafood and to earn an income through its sale in the main markets in Suva.
The YPL Small Grants fund is allocated to selected YPL alumni to fund Pacific young leaders to carry out projects that improve their communities, countries, and the region.
Projects cover one of the four YPL themes: education, environment and resource management, civic engagement, and social and economic development.
The volcanic island of Moala has a population of approximately 3000 people, living in eight villages, where the main economic activities include coconut farming, cocoa production, fishing and yaqona (kava) production.
Bulou says she wanted to secure a grant to assist people from Moala to get into the seafood trade, as it is a viable means to improving the living standards on the island.
“Using our YPL grant funding, we began the first phase of our project – a six-month capacity building programme to improve the knowledge, skills and confidence of villagers to undertake seafood business,” Bulou says.
“Our capacity-building trainings focused on quality handling and hygiene (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) post-harvest, mud-crab farming and fattening, licensing and regulations, seaweed farming, mangrove potting, basic business skills and value chain management.
“We also arranged a tour of the only crab farm in Fiji located in Rewa province for our eight village headmen.
“The next phase of the project is to create an island business to assist villagers in getting their harvest to market.”
Keteira women participate in a training workshop. Photo credit: MDG.
Strengthening bonds
Working alongside her cousins, Bulou says the highlight of the project has been the strengthening of bonds and ties with people from Moala, and the faith they have in the group to create business and employment opportunities for them.
“Moala is a patriarchal community, and we were therefore humbled to be received in village meeting halls by a wide cross-section of youth and elders.
“I was also honoured to be recognised for my work by the Moala District Committee, who have invited me to be a part of their committee, thus being the only female member since the formation of the committee – my father and grandfather have led this development committee in their time.”
Forming a partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries, who conducted the technical trainings for handling, hygiene, mud-crab farming and fattening, seaweed farming and mangrove potting, has also been a highlight for the cousins, as was seeing three fishermen begin supplying mud-crabs and lobsters to markets in Suva, following the first training.
Overcoming obstacles
Implementing the Live Seafood Export project has come with its fair share of challenges, including getting to and from Moala, especially in poor weather.
“The plane is scheduled once a week and the ship once a fortnight, and Moala is an uneconomical route (for business) and therefore the government subsidises this route.
“It is a small plane that can only accommodate six passengers and the cost of travel to Moala, by comparison to other routes of similar distance around Fiji, is much more expansive due in large part to the lack of economic activity on the island and limited ability to meet transportation cost.
“Another challenge was getting to certain villages – three of them are only accessible by boat and our trips there were timed according to the tides.”
Village culture also had to be observed; trainings needed to be postponed if there was an event such as a wedding or funeral, as the whole village takes part in it, as well as when the ship arrived from Suva, as villagers travel to the wharf to send or receive goods.
“We therefore had to maintain a flexible training schedule.”
Another challenge faced, was changing the embedded subsistence mindset of project participants.
“Their lack of exposure to industry and production environment limits their ability to farm and harvest at commercial scale,” Bulou explains.
“Typically, they will produce and sell only for their present expenses such as children’s education and once the expense is met, the farm is left idle.
“We will need to walk them through the next phase of business development and getting them to market.”
Practical training at Moala Island. Photo credit: MDG.
The future
All the while supported by the YPL network, Bulou says facilitating the project has been a life changing experience so far for her and her cousins.
“We stepped out of our comfort zones to deliver these trainings in Moala.
“We have been culturally empowered and overcoming the challenges we have faced has made us more determined to assist our people through entrepreneurial approach and business investment.
“Our challenge is a lack of funds, however, with this successful phase behind us, we can prepare and plan the next phase of our project with more confidence.
“Finally, we’ve had some unused funds at the completion of our project in Moala and we have decided to use these remaining funds to partner with our YPL alumni from Kiribati to undertake business skills and entrepreneurship capacity-building training in Kiribati in January 2025.”
Ultimately, Bulou would like to develop a business model for marginalised, maritime provinces like Moala, which can then be replicated in the Pacific.
“Securing the supply chain is critical for sustainability of any business investment in provinces like mine, however there are many contentious issues such as land ownership.
“It remains my life-long objective to raise economic and social standards on my home island of Moala.”
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