The first-ever ‘2024 Pacific Agri-Innovate Business Plan Competition’ was officially launched in Suva yesterday. This initiative aims to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship within the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector, particularly emphasizing agriculture.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Co-operatives, SMEs and Communications Manoa Kamikamica highlighted that the competition symbolizes a crucial step for Fiji towards fostering innovation, resilience, and supporting MSMEs in agriculture, ultimately driving economic growth. Mr. Kamikamica stated that the competition is designed to equip participants with the necessary resources, mentorship, and exposure to help transform their innovative ideas into sustainable agricultural practices.
Additionally, the competition presents MSME participants with the unique opportunity to launch the first agri-business incubation center aimed at developing and accelerating agricultural startups and innovations in the nation. Joann Young, Assistant Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to Fiji, noted that this launch reflects the shared commitment of the FAO, the Trade Ministry, and the Ministry of Agriculture to support agribusiness in Fiji. She emphasized the importance of providing necessary resources and expertise to create a vibrant ecosystem conducive to agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Pacific Agri-Innovate competition is a significant component of the Sustainable Transformation of Domestic Agrifood Systems in Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands (STODAS) project, which focuses on advancing rural agribusiness development through business incubation and technology commercialization.
Ramesh Chand, general manager of Business Assistance Fiji, explained that the initiative aims to identify, nurture, and showcase innovative agribusinesses with significant growth potential in the Pacific region. The competition is being launched simultaneously in Samoa and the Solomon Islands, focusing on various areas such as post-harvest and food technology, value chains, farm retail, sustainable agriculture, farm mechanization, and supply chain management.
The winner of the competition will receive $1,000 USD (approximately $2,216 FJD) along with mentoring and leading-edge incubation support. A dedicated competition website has also been launched.