[music] God [singing] of nations, all [music] the eyes of we standed [music] [singing] under all Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [singing] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Panaka, kindly take your seats, ladies and gentlemen. And now I would like to call upon uh Reverend Demlei Suzu to do a short devotion for the start of the agriculture show here in Lambbasa. Paka Firstly, I would like to welcome everyone >> and greet you in the name of the father, the son, and uh the Holy Spirit. We thank you for we thank the Lord for this wonderful day and uh the weather that is uh provided for us. We we believe that uh he is in our midst and uh we'll also be blessing our short devotion uh this morning. Before we commence, I am asking a a mini choir from the nasa and uh nas to sing for us a a hymn before for the commencement of our devotion this morning. Nice. [singing] >> [singing] >> Lord and [singing] I glor [singing] [singing] >> [singing] >> And the song about the [singing] [singing] young [singing] [singing] marorrow [singing] [singing] in the song >> [singing] >> It is [singing] command [singing and music] [singing] >> [singing] >> Lauren. [singing] [singing] [singing] [singing] Fore! Foreign! Foreign! can do. Can I do Fore! Foreign! Foreign! and let the land produce vegetation. seedbearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit and seed in it according to their various kinds. And it was so. The land produced vegetation, plants bearing seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seeds in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. with just a short reflection from this text. what we can gather from those two verses or those to summarize in just a few words. Our reading, our text this morning is reminding us that before everything else, there was God. Before every seed, there was God. Before every growth, there was God. Before you and me, there was God. He is the creator. He is the cause. of every effect. He is the reason behind every movement and everything. And uh to conclude, it is not only that God was present before everything, but it is also that after all creation, after all things pass away, God will remain. God will remain. And as a steward, you and I as a beneficiary, we today is a is a day we only need to thank God, thank God, and appreciate his goodness and his good works. Yes, we believe Lord that before everything you were. You're present because you are the creator. You are the creator and also the sustainer of life. We commit this day. We commit the program. We commit the lives of your people. Our chief guest, we commit the every words that will be spoken today. We commit all this in your name. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Hey, Prime Minister. for ohchech. forchech. foreignch. forchech. forchech. Yeah. Now we live. IO foreign. for Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. alone. Hey, Indiana. Yeah. There. I saw forchech. Power level. Nuh-uh. Oh So much. Christina >> [singing] >> Vina speech. Hallelujah. Happy birthday. Hallelujah. [singing] [singing] My life Whatever you Glory mighty. Why are you doing anything? Double do it. What happened? Let's see. Oh my god. Get out. How about What was that? Mama. N2A single Prime Minister foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. So tower Fore speech. for the merry gentlemen. for forchech. [clears throat] forch. forchech. Mayorechee. Okay. Go now. Yeah. Maka, can I now kindly call upon the garlanding of uh our chief guest today? We are At this juncture, I'd also like to acknowledge the presence of the Nanati Lambasa and the Melangi as well. And now I'd like to call upon the Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry, the Honorable Tomasuna to officially welcome our chief guest today. Luck. the prime minister for the republic of Fiji, honorable city, honorable ministers and assistant ministers and honorable members of parliament, distinguished traditional leaders of Wunwalu, the permanent secretary for agriculture, waterways and sugar industry, Dr. And Tukana representative of government officials, development partners, stakeholders, farmers, exhibitors, researchers and [snorts] representative of business sector, teachers and students, [snorts] members of the private sector and civil society and the media, staff of the ministry of agriculture and water and sugar industry and Ladies and gentlemen, may Sam Buler and a very good morning to you all. And before I begin, let me first acknowledge the traditional owners of the [snorts] land and offer my respects to their elders both past and present as well as the generations to come. Ladies, gentle and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to expand to extend my very special welcome to our chief guest, the prime minister of the republic of Fiji, the honorable city. Honorable Prime Minister sir, allow me on behalf of those gathered here at the opening of the National Agriculture Show to join in celebrating another year of your life and to wish you health, long life, continued success and many more happy weekends of the day. Honorable Prime Minister, we are deeply grateful for your presence with us today and for taking time despite your very demanding national responsibilities to officially open the National Agriculture Show 2026. Your presence today demonstrates the importance of your government that places on agriculture and the people whose livelihood depend upon this vital sector. On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Waste and Sugar Industry, our farmers and the agriculture stakeholders and indeed the people of Fiji and Bonvu, I wish to acknowledge and sincerely thank you for your continued support to the agriculture sector. Under your leadership, the government continues to strengthen agriculture as a vital pillar of our economy by improving food security, livelihood, agro business, value addition and opportunities for farmers, women and young people. We also wish to acknowledge with deep appreciation your unwilling support and commitment to the work of the ministry, particularly your continued willingness to accept our invitation to officiate at the ministry's important events and programs. Your presence and participations have always added greater significance to this occasion and have demonstrated the importance your government places on agriculture and commitments to building a more resilient, sustainable, productive and prosperous agriculture [snorts] sector for the benefit of our Fijians. Honorable Prime Minister say we sincerely thank you for your continued encouragement, guidance and support and for always making time to be part of the ministry's effort to transform and strengthen agriculture sector in Fiji and we are deeply honored for your presence. Ladies and gentlemen, I also extend a very warm welcome to other government ministries and member of parliaments who are present with us and we recognize that each of you uh carries significant responsibilities in serving people of Fiji and therefore your presence here today is greatly appreciated to our traditional leaders and representative of the bun of such I extend a very respectful and heartfelt welcome and we are honored for your presence at this important occasion. And as we seek to modernize and transform agriculture, we must do so while respecting the wisdom, traditions, and knowledge that have been sustain that had sustained our communities for generations. Your support and partnership are therefore invaluable to the future of our cuts. Though our traditional leaders, thank you once again for your continued support and thank you for honoring us with your presence here this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, I warmly welcome our government representative, development partners, donor agencies and partner organizations and the and agriculture transformation cannot be achieved by one ministry or one organization working alone. It requires collaboration, coordination, investment, technical knowledge, research, infrastructure and financial marketing access and above all partnership. Your presence at this agriculture provides an important opportunity to strengthen this partnership share information innovation identify opportunities for collaboration and connect the various services and programs available to our funding communities. the heart of the souls of this agriculture show, our farmers. I extend my warmest welcome and this show is about you. Your dedication, your resilience and hard work in sustaining our communities, stren strengthening our economy and driving innovation deserves our deep deepest appreciation. I encourage you, our farmers, to use this reday event not only as an opportunity to showcase your produce, but also to learn, network, build partnerships and explore new technologies and and identify new markets and business opportunities. Ladies and gentlemen, I also welcome our sponsors, our financial institutions and private sector partners. And your part your participation brings knowledge, innovation, technology and enterprise to strengthen agriculture, connect farmers and agro business and create opportunities for grouper great productivity, commercialization and value addition to the teachers and the most and most importantly your students. A very special warm welcome to you. We are delighted you have we have you here today to our students remember that the future of Fiji's agriculture lies in your hands. We want you to see agriculture not merely as an occupation but as an existing sector offering opportunities for careers for research investment for leadership and to the teachers. Thank you for helping us nature our next generation of our people. And finally, I wish to acknowledge and warmly welcome the permanent secretary for the cut and waterways and the dedicated staff from the ministry who had worked tirelessly to make this agriculture show a reality. An event of this scale does not happen without significant planning, coordination, commitment and teamwork. I acknowledge the many hours of work undertaken behind the scene. Ladies and gentlemen, the agriculture show 2026 is more than an exhibition. It is a celebration of our farmers. It is a celebration of our agriculture heritage. It is a platform for innovation, knowledge sharing and partnership. And it is an opportunity to demonstrate the enormous potential that agriculture holds for Fiji's future. Let us use these three days to celebrate our achievement and learn from others. Once again, thank you for being here and I wish each and every one of you success and a productive and enjoyable three days of shower. Now I call upon um our chief guest and of course our prime minister and minister for civil service, strategic planning, national development and statistics, the honorable city lingamanda rambuka to uh present um her speech today. No, we didn't. Okay, good. The Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry, the Honorable Tuna, fellow ministers and assistant ministers, honorable members of Parliament, senior government officials, PS agriculture to our development partners, farmers and exhibitors, researchers, agri business operators, students and teachers. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm a very good morning to you all. Looking at the uh program, I believe there's going to be some uh copper cutting and the new exhibitions this morning. I was looking at my palm and the scar is still very clear near my thumb. We pay our respects to the chiefs of the land on which We sit today and we pay our respects to their leaders past, present as well as emerging as we acknowledge their enduring role in the Renoir and we remain grateful for their custodianship. ship which has allowed us together here today and for some generations to enjoy their hospitality. It's a great pleasure for me to be here to open the 2026 National Agriculture Show and to launch Fiji's National Coconut Day celebrations. I was looking at the coconut in front of us. I also remember my days at Queen Victoria School in my last year. I couldn't go to Shuba where my mother was staying blind and about to be divorced. I couldn't go and uh add to the burden of our relatives in cha. So I asked the principal to uh keep me occupied in school during the term holidays. So he called the farm manager and asked how can we employ Steven for two weeks and then another two weeks in August. Coconut pest and diseases board. research. But today we celebrate our farmers, our agricultural communities, and everyone contributing to the development of Fiji's agricultural sector. The show is about more than agriculture. As we have heard from the honorable minister, it's about Fiji's economic future. It is fitting that we gather here in Lambasan, the heart of Anabu's agricultural economy. The north the north has enormous potential to even produce more than we are doing at this time. We also in a position to process more, to export more and to create opportunities for our people. The theme for this year's show is green growth, golden gain, advancing agriculture through innovation, diversification, value addition for a resilient and prosperous Fiji. [snorts] This theme captures what we must achieve. We must produce more produce better. We must produce more products, produce better products, produce consistently and use our land properly, our water, our labor, our technology and and capital. You must use all those more productivity productively [clears throat] reduce waste, improve quality, add value and connect our form farmers well to reliable markets. The future of agriculture cannot be based only on increasing the volume of what we produce. It must be based on higher productivity, stronger businesses, better technology, greater value addition, and improved returns for our farmers. This is how agriculture can make a much greater contribution to Fiji's economic transformation. Our ambition is to lift Fiji's economic growth toward a 6% economy by um high income economy by 2050. That is by achieving 6% growth and build on that foundation to achieve that objective of becoming a highincome economy by 2050. And I believe it can be done. That was God's intention as we heard today in Genesis right in the chap first chapter. He wants the earth we live on to be productive. Agriculture has an important role in helping us achieve that [clears throat] ambition. Agriculture is not a sector on the margins of our economy. It is central to our food security, rural livelihoods, employment, exports, import substitution, and national resilience. Agriculture's reported contribution to real GDP has increased from approximately 6.5% in 2014 to 2 to 12.8 8% in 2024 in the 10 years. That demonstrates the growing importance of the sector to Fiji's economy. Agriculture must therefore move from being primarily a producer of raw commodities to becoming a stronger commercial, value adding and export oriented sector. This means increasing yields, improving farm management, reducing post-h harvest losses, better storage, processing, packaging and logistics, and stronger market information and access and access to finance and producing to the standards required by both the domestic as well as the international market productivity must become a central measure of progress. The question should not only be how much land we cultivate or how many crops we produce. We should also ask how much value we create from each hectare, each worker, each investment and each unit of water and other resources that we use. Higher productivity will raise farm incomes, strengthen rural businesses, improve our competitiveness, and create the economic space needed for further investment. Look at the Old Testament and see how much producers, farmers, livestock farmers enjoyed in society. Read the book of Job. He was the wealthiest man there. Not in terms of diamonds and gold and silver, but in terms of the herds that he kept. Today we also celebrate coconut day. Coconut rightly known as the tree of life. Coconut provides food, income, materials and livelihoods for communities across Fiji. the first uh Israeli ambassador who came here to Fiji had a driver who was a soldier and the soldier went to meet him in uh 90 and uh as they drove off the uh ambassador said to uh his driver tang what's new said coconut Sir, big one. Coconut, sir. No. He said, "What's new?" Yes. New is coconut. Do you know what's new? Coconut. More than 61,500 land are used for coconut cultivation. or had coconut grow in them with the northern and eastern divisions accounting for a significant share of production. Yet we face a major challenge. appro with approximately half of Fiji's cockner plantation covering more than 30,000 hectare are considered senile like me and require rehabilitation [clears throat] or replanting. This is a challenge but it's also an economic opportunity. It can be used. I came here with a project and a proposal and the government just shoved it aside. Even when I came in, I I asked for the file and it wasn't there. It was going to change the uh coconut industry and move it more towards a an extra virgin oil production. We had the markets We had the buyers. We had everything. We even had the machinery to come here and clear the undergrowth in all our coconut groves. Government didn't want to look at it. I'm looking for the file now. No longer there. We have to re rehabilitate our coconut plantations so that they can increase their productivity to strengthen household incomes and to provide a more reliable supply of raw materials for local processing and export. Government is establishing covenant nurseries across all four agricultural divisions and strengthening the capacity of technical offices. This the distribution of seedlings is expected to begin early in 2027. But government cannot deliver this transformation alone. Conrad rehab must be a partnership between farmers, land owners, communities, government researchers, financial institutions, development partners, and the private sector. Our ambition must go beyond producing more coconuts. We must build a modern coconut industry that creates more value for every coconut produced. This means stronger processing, better products, improved branding, reliable quality and access to higher value markets. I was in uh when I lost my job when I was out of parliament and then out of the council of chiefs. I was president of uh coconut oil producers copbatu cops of Samoa co and uh c o png pp andg but then our program for did not work was not allowed to even start. But now we should encourage investment in coconut oil, virgin coconut oil, fruit products, cosmetic fiber, charcoal and other commercially viable products where appropriate. We should also promote intercropping and integrated farming. We should not continue to rely on the carbon Copenhagen oil prices that are given out to the world. We must diversify our produce. Diversification gives farmers more than one source of income. It also makes farming systems more resilient to market and climate shocks. Our objective should be clear. Move from raw production to value creation. That is where greater income and greater economic contribution will come. Food security is an essential part of national security. [clears throat] Global disruptions, climate events, conflicts, and supply chain pressures can quickly affect the availability and price of food as we have recently and are still experiencing. Fiji cannot produce everything that we consume. But where we have the land, the knowledge, the farmers and resources to produce competitively, we must strengthen [clears throat] domestic production. Reducing avoidable food import keeps more money within Fiji. It creates market for farmers, support rural businesses and strengthen our resilience. At the same time, food security and agricultural exports must not be treated as a competing objective. A productive sector can feed our people and supply competitive products to regional and international markets. Our goal must be to produce more food, better quality products and greater economic value. Government has an important role but government cannot transform agriculture on its own. The transformation we seek requires a stronger partnership between government, the farmers, land owners, businesses, financial institutions, researchers, universities, development partners and communities. Development sector, the private sector must play a greater role in investment in processing in technology, in logistics, market development and export growth. The government role is to create the right condition working with clear policies, appropriate infrastructure, effective regulation, research, extension services and ex access to opportunities. Development partners can help us build capacity and introduce new technologies. Financial institutions can develop products that respond to the realities of farming and researchers can help farmers improve productivity. We must move towards stronger agricultural value chain where farmers are not simply suppliers of raw materials but active participants in value creation. We must also recognize the important contribution of women to farming, to food production, processing, marketing and rural enterprises. Women must have equitable access to finance, technology, training, land use opportunities and markets. Our young people must also see agriculture as an industry of the future. Modern agriculture requires science, engineering, technology, digital skills, business management, marketing and entrepreneurship. We need young Fijians not only to farm, but also to become researchers, aronomists, technicians, processors, exporters, innovators, and agricultural entrepreneurs. This is essential for renewing the sector and creating productive employment in all our rural economies. Agriculture also has a very important role in improving the health and productivity of our people. We continue to face a serious burden of non-communicable diseases with significant social and economic costs. Agriculture can be part of the solution. Increasing the availability and affordability of locally produced fruits, vegetables, root crops, and other nutritious foods can support healthier diets while creating stronger markets for farmers. A healthier population is also a more productive population. This means agriculture contributes not only to food security and economic growth but also to the quality of life and productivity of our workforce. We must also recognize the growing impact of climate variability and climate change on agriculture. Current forecasts indicate the possibility of dry conditions through the end to the end of 2026 and into the early 2027. As we brace continue to brace for this El Nino, we must know that Lanina comes out to balance everything out. So let's be prepared. Climate resilience must become part of normal agricultural planning. The north has land. We have natural resources. We have farmer communities and an emerging base for investment and enterprise. We must create the condition for these assets to generate greater economic value. Ladies and gentlemen, Fiji's 6% growth aspiration cannot be achieved by government alone. It requires a whole of economy effort. Every farmer who improves productivity contributes. Every business that invests in processing contributes. Every single researcher who develops a better farming method contributes. Every young person who chooses agriculture and builds a successful enterprise contributes. [clears throat] Every development partner that helps us strengthen our productive capacity contributes. This is the partnership that we need. We must move from a model where government is expected to provide everything to one where government creates the enabling environment and the farmers continu communities and businesses become stronger drivers of investment, productivity and growth. Ladies and gentlemen, today we celebrate our farmers, our agricultural communities and natural resources that sustain our nation. We must also look ahead. The next phase of agriculture must be defined by [clears throat] productivity, innovation, diversification, value addition, investment and strong partnerships. Let us use this national agriculture show to connect ideas with investment, research with production, farmers with markets, and government with the private sector in our communities. Let us build an agricultural sector that produces nutritious food for our people, that creates profitable businesses, generate decent livelihood, and compete successfully in regional and international markets. Let us also ensure that the growth of agriculture contributes directly to our national ambition of achieving sustained the sustained 6% economic growth and positioning Fiji as a high income economy by 2050. Going back to the Old Testament, the next book after Genesis, as Moses set off on that journey that eventually took 40 years to complete, he came across the first obstacle, a sea. He looked up. How am I going to cross this sea? God said to him, Come. What do you have? This is my walking stick. Use that. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. [applause] >> [groaning] >> Mommy. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. fora. Uh, minister Yeah, one better. Fore! Foreign! Foreign! foreign. Hey Robert foreign. forchech. Nhuh. Nahuh. Thank you very much. At this juncture, we're going to uh move the cake closer cuz we'll have the cutting of the cake. And this is a cake with a difference. Uh this is our fruit salad cake. I could say our cutting of a watermelon cake. And we're going to ask the >> I'm going to ask Madwata as well as our chief guest if they can kindly come up and cut our watermelon cake. We kindly ask you uh to come up and cut the cake alongside the prime minister to cut our watermelon cake. What a movie. [music] [singing] >> [music] >> And [singing] the king of the [music] [music] I'm now going to call upon uh the permanent secretary for agriculture and waterways and sugar industry Dr. Andrew Tukana to kindly come and deliver the vote of thanks. bring the people in that there. Sorry about that. Yeah. Don't chief guest. the prime minister of Fiji, the honorable city. Ladies and gentlemen, I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the presence of the I also acknowledge the presence of the Ranjini Tulasa who left us. and the mela to our chief guest on behalf of the ministry of agriculture, waterways and sugar industry. I take this opportunity to thank you very much for coming here this morning to spend your time to officiate and to officially open the 2026 National Agricultural Show as well as to launch the uh coconut day celebrations and to all our stakeholders, our partners and our farmers that are here with us today of farmers and our our teachers and students. As we've all heard this morning, our our theme for this year's National 2026 agricultural show is green growth and golden gains. So, I hope you all can take the next three days to increase to improve your networks and to collaborate and to take away knowledge and new information and new technologies. And I also thank all the organizers, the sponsors for working behind the scenes, for working behind the scenes with all the hours of work you've put in over the last few weeks and few days, which has enabled us to come to this point in time where we have managed to officially launch the 2026 National Agricultural Soul. So again to our chief guest, thank you very much for your support and thank you for officiating and launching the 2026 National Agriculture Show as well as the launch of the coconut coconut day celebration. So with that again everyone and I wish everyone an enjoyable 3 days of agricultural show and I hope it will be a fruitful fruitful one for everyone. >> [applause] >> Vaneka, just before we uh proceed with uh our photo session today, I'm going to kindly