Pacific Organic & Ethical Trade Community - organic ngali nuts for better lives

A remote island in Solomon Islands will soon start exporting ngalinuts to New Caledonia with the commencement of first steps leading to organic certification.

A team comprising officials from the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom), the Ministry of Agriculture of the Solomon Islands, Kastom Gaden Association and Zai Na Tina are on Baniata (Rendova Island), Western Province, where the ngalinuts grow wild, set up the Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) at Baniata recently.

A New Caledonian enterprise is keen on buying ngalinuts on the condition they are certified organic.
Ngali nuts roasted in stone oven called the ‘mutu’     POETCom is hosted by the European Union-supported Increasing Agricultural Commodity Trade (IACT) project implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

POETCom Organic Systems Extension officer Stephen Hazelman will work with islanders familiarising them on the principles of the Pacific Organic Standard (POS), the rulebook of organics in the Pacific.

“It’s the same we did in Fiji and Kiribati,” he said, “talking to farmers, explaining what organic is and going through relevant areas of Pacific Organic Standard for understanding and clarity.”

He added, “We will also need to determine if they have been using chemicals and if they do, there is a period of abstinence from chemical use they will need to abide by.”

“With Baniata farmers, the Participatory Guarantee System will be established.”
POETCom Organic Systems Officer Stephen Hazelman explains

The PGS is an interactive peer auditing tool that involves groups of farmers at Baniata auditing each other’s farms, to determine if they are compliant with standards identified in POS.

Products that successfully pass the certification process can carry the Organic Pasifika certification mark, providing an organic guarantee to buyers.

Third party certification is the alternative auditing tool, carried out by an accredited auditor but is expensive to employ and often beyond the means of ordinary farmers.

http://www.organicpasifika.com/poetcom/news/going-organic-ngali-nuts-for-better-lives-at-baniata/