A display with a thousand lessons - Pacific agritourism week 2015

Excited chattering filled the lobby. An informative exchange between exhibitors and participants of the expo, some exciting sights such as different varieties of crops, and entrepreneurs with their products. Of the many booths, the one that caught my eye was the Antigua & Barbuda Network of Rural Women Producers (ANBNROP). All the way from the Caribbean, this organisation works mainly with women. I am not biased towards this booth because I am a feminist, but mainly because the products this organisation had to offer was something that had not reached to this part of the world. One particular product was their mango sauce. Why did no one in Fiji ever think of this? We also have mangoes, imagine having a juicy chicken breast grilled and served with mango sauce. How island like right?  There is a lot we have to learn from this particular organisation.

The displays were not just limited to agriculture and food, what comes in your mind when someone talks about agritourism? Well if you can only think of the relationship between chefs and farmers, you’re wrong. The WIBDI Samoa is an organisation that also deals with women in business. Some of their most unique products included organic insect repellent, maybe I have been living under a rock but the idea sounded so foreign and appealing. The repellent is a combination of organic virgin coconut oil and distilled citronella.  There is just so much to learn from this display and it’s a wake-up call to the ministry of agriculture and also the people from Fiji that there is just so much we can learn from other countries/regions and implement to further develop our agri-tourism sector.

See more via CTA's blog: http://blogs.cta.int/2015/06/30/display-thousand-lessons/