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Joeli Fatafei

Joeli Fatafei

 

Joeli was Aggie Global's first customer, back when we were focusing on educating and training farmers in 2018. Joeli has a moderate sized farm on the outskirts of Nawamagi Village.

 

Before, I don’t know how to plant some corn but (with) the workshop I can make some changes on the farm… I [grew] corn. This one is pumpkin. What do you call this one? Eggplant. Then some pawpaw.” – 14th June 2018

 

Three months after attending a workshop Joeli was able to diversify the crops he grew on his family farm. By growing cabbage between corn plants that were growing next to chilli and cassava, Joeli was able to prolong his harvest to help him overcome fluctuating market prices and reduce production risk during cyclone season. 

Motivated by the workshop, Joeli has started experimenting on what crops to grow and when. From a single row of pumpkin, he received $1,000 FJD ($500 USD) from one of three harvests in the dry season. Usually farmers would receive $200-$500 for this harvest in the wet season due to market flooding. By growing pumpkin in the dry season Joeli managed to double his income in just 3 months.

After harvesting his pumpkins Joeli is now testing out how to grow potatoes on his farm. Potatoes are not commonly grown in Fiji as potatoes can be sourced cheaply from New Zealand. Aggie Global staff are eager to see how this new crop is growing on Joeli’s farm and to see what challenges he faced when trialling a new crop.

 

We currently don't have any of his produce being sold online, but we as we update our product list, we are sure you will see some of his produce on the store soon.