The Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network (PIFON) serves as an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for national farmer organizations in the

Pacific island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

region. It is based in

Nadi Nadi (pronounced ) is the third-largest conurbation in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 42,284 at the most recent census, in 2007. A 2012 estimate showed that the population had ...

, Fiji and has membership of organisations from the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

, Fiji,

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

, as well as a

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

n regional organisation. Although operating informally since 2009, its first formal foundation meeting was held in April 2013 in Nadi, when 13 organisations were represented and PIFON became operational as a legal entity in its own right.

Purpose

PIFON was established to provide support to the small national farmer organisations in the region through coordinating capacity building, sharing success stories, and supporting regional exchanges of expertise, thus potentially enabling

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

farmers to play an important role in

agricultural value chain Agricultural value chain is the integrated range of goods and services (value chain) necessary for an agricultural product to move from the producer to the final consumer. The concept has been used since the beginning of the millennium, primarily b ...

s. The founder members noted that while farmer organisations had in the past depended on a high level of donor support, this support had often been sporadic. Moreover, because of their limited resources the organisations had been unable to clearly articulate their needs. It was therefore considered important to develop business activities to promote farmer organisation sustainability, while not detracting from their core values and objectives.

Activities and support

PIFON carries out three broad types of activities: to enhance sustainability of national members; to provide practical information to enable farmers to carry out income-generating activities; and to support members in promoting sustainable production practices. Within the Pacific region it has identified opportunities for farmers to supply growing urban and tourism markets, expand tree crop exports, and exploit niche product exports based on

fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...

and organic certification. Since its establishment PIFON has received support from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

and

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and EU member states. Since 2000 CTA has operated within the fra ...

. It has also signed a partnership agreement with the

Pacific Community The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories. The organisation's headquarters are in Nouméa, ...

(SPC).

International relations

Starting in 2022, PIFON also cooperates with the Slovak

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

Servare et Manere as part of the

Tree of Peace The Iroquois Tree of Peace finds its roots in a man named Dekanawida, the peace-giver. The legends surrounding his place amongst the Iroquois (the Haudenosaunee) is based in his role in creating the Five Nations Confederacy, which consisted of ...

program. During the expedition of this organization focused on the South Pacific region, one of the Trees of Peace was planted in Fiji. About 35 people attended the event on Wailoko Road in Sabeto,

, Fiji's third-largest conurbation. The

Executive Director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of PIFON, Kyle Stice, was awarded a

Memorial Medal of Tree of Peace The Memorial Medal of Tree of Peace ( Slovak: ''Pamätná medaila Stromu pokoja'') is the second highest award awarded since 2020 by Servare et Manere, the Slovak non-governmental organization. The award was first awarded on September 28, 202 ...

for his contribution to the planting of the memorial tree. Tree of Peace planting Fiji

References

{{Reflist Farmers' organizations International organizations based in Oceania Agricultural organisations based in Fiji

Purpose

Activities and support

International relations

See also

References