Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694873013240.pdf (Fiji)
APPENDICES Appendix 1 Written Evidence Ministry of Agriculture 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Ministry of Agriculture 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Annual Report responses to Parliament of Fiji Annex 1 - 2016-2017 1.

Page 10: Linkage to the People’s Charter for Change, Peace and Progress a.

Pillar 5: Achieving Higher Economic growth while ensuring sustainability- Can the Ministry provide an explanation on the similarities of figures for Pillar five (5) on the Ministry’s 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Annual Reports?

b.
b.

Pillar 6: Making More Land Available for Productive and Social Services - Can the Ministry please provide evidence of this activity?

c. Pillar 8: Reduce Poverty to a Negligible Level by 2015 - Can the Ministry please provide the progress in reducing Poverty to a Negligible Level in 2015?

ranges as those to GDP would Since High-level indicators targeted were reported in a range, the Ministry believe that targeted highlighting contribution still be representative for the period under review.
Agriculture GDP contribution targets from 7.6- 10% and this allows for flexibility in actual GDP achieved.

Also GDP are presented according to calendar year, therefore a recorded GDP figure can be represent two [2] financial year.

-For the period under review, the ministry produced 2 reports on bio physical status in Fiji.

Established 5 Land Care group adopting SLM technology.

This group were later developed into cluster.


Throughout the year, the Ministry through the Land Use Section continue to produce land use plan or farm plan upon request from farmers who wish to start up a farm.

This encourages more land utilization and during period under review, Land Use Section provided these required documentation to 32 interested farmers.
The land use section also conduct training and land create awareness on management and has produced a Farm Management Manual to support this activities.

sustainable -Copy of the Farm Management Manual can be accessed through the Ministry Website.

The Ministry continues to support programs that is linked to developing young farmers and Women farmers.
In each financial year, grants are provided to Navuso & Tutu Agriculture School to support training of young farmers and women farmers are supported through the Women in Agriculture Program.

During the period in review Navuso & Tutu agricultural school receive 500k and 600k as grant while Women in Agriculture is allocated 200K.

These funding ensure 2.

Page 11: 2016 – 2017 Agriculture Key Numbers a.

Can the Ministry please provide an explanation as to why: i.
The contribution to GDP was $500.8 m through January to July 2016 whereas the contribution for the year under review (August 2016-July 2017) was $542m?

ii.

On Export, for the period January to July 2016, was $224m which was higher than $194m.

training of young farmers who are encouraged to practice farming as a business.

Women in Agriculture Program continue to train Women and encourage women participation in Agriculture.

Value of Real GDP in 2015 for Crop & Livestock non Sugar was 542m.
This decreased in 2016 to 500.8m due to TC Winston.

GDP is compiled according to calendar year therefore the period under review - 2016/17 will quote the value of 2016 GDP - $500.8m.

Finalization of GDP information is confirmed through the Fiji Bureau of Statistics in last quarter of every calendar year therefore it is only appropriate for the 2016/2017 Annual Report to quote value of 2016 GDP of $500.8m.
Similar to GDP, because there was no specific figure for 2016 half year, all key numbers highlighted in the 2016 half year report were quoting either data from 2015 or 2016 calendar year.

The 2016 half year Export Data tried to compile a specific 6 months data set from FBoS released trade table of HS 1-24 which traded commodities that totals to $224 million for 6 months.

Considering variations in trend, this methodologies was not considered in the compilation of later year’s annual report.
As such, Agriculture export for the following calendar year considering only Crop & Livestock fresh & chilled and value added commodities - 2015 – 198m / 2016 – 194.5m.

all Agriculture classify iii.

On imports, $717m for 7 months (January to July 2016) was a lot higher than the imports for the August 2016 to July 2017 period which was only $645m?

3.

Can the Ministry please define the acronym BQA?


Bilateral Quarantine Arrangement – As explained above, for 2016 half year report, due to unavailability of half year national data, Import reported quoted import of all food for 2016 or food import bill.

Import Bill for Agriculture Commodity for half year 2016 can quote from either 2015 or 2016 calendar year.
Fiji has a Bilateral Quarantine Arrangement with New Zealand and Australia for export of certain commodities such Okra, Mango, Pawpaw, Egg Plant & Breadfruit.

for crops, 4.
for crops, 4.

Page 15: Output 1 – Maintaining Food Security through the provision of extension and livestock and research services veterinary services Through the enhancement of Food Security and Livelihoods for all through a coordinated and collaborative effort to support capacity building and raising awareness in a variety of formats, Can the Ministry please provide the criteria for setting up backyard gardening and how are the Statistics collated?

5.
5.

Page 17: Output 5 – Ensuring Equal Access for Women in Agricultural Development Through the participation of women on economic activity to strengthen Cottage Industries to create employment, can the Ministry provide information on the types of cottage industries that have been successfully progressed?

6.
6.

Page 26: Output 2, sub-output 2 – Strengthened Demand Driven Research and Extended Partnership with the Private Sector and established Institutions- Can the Ministry please provide the criteria for the selection of farmers that link them to the Tourism Industry?

Kindly provide details of farmers that are currently linked to the Tourism Industry?

Setting up of backyard gardening is open to all farmers and households in urban centers who wish to set up their home garden.
Especially those that have available space of 10mtr by 10mtr to set up their home gardens.

Seeds are collected from nearby Agriculture Stations where Names, location and date of collection are recorded.

Apart from other pre filled variables, all collated the establishment of a Data Base where Statistics on Backyard/ Home gardening Program are recorded.

items enable This includes training on flower arrangement, farming.
farming, voivoi & masi flower Assistances also covered provision of farm inputs to boost production.

During the period under review, a total of 40 women groups were assisted.

identified from Clusters of Farmers are communities near hotels who have been farming consistently for the last five years.

Main commodity planted covers mainly vegetables which are highly demanded by hotels and contributes immensely to high import of high value vegetables.
Most of these clusters are located along the Coral Coasts and supply mail to hotels in those areas.

There are 22 clusters located in that area that has participated in organized training with nearby hotels.

Out of which six are actively supplying.

These include farming clusters from Tore Village, Sila Village, Cuvu Cluster, Namahi Clusters, Nahogo Cluster and Itava Cluster from Tagaqe Village.

7.
7.

Page 39: Nadi River Flood Control Can the Ministry please provide the final report on the Nadi River Flood Control Measures?

The Report would be available with the Ministry of Waterways, which use to be the Land & Water Resource Management Division of the Ministry of Agriculture.

8.

Page 40 – Sigatoka River Dredging Project Can the Ministry please provide an update on the status of the Sigatoka River dredging works?

Refer to Ministry of Waterways 9.


Page 44 – Output 5 – Participation of Woman on Economic Activities a.

Can the Ministry please provide a list of activities in the Cottage Industry?

o Capacity Building to Women famers o Provision of Planting Materials o Provision of Nursery Materials o Provision of Agro Inputs such as b.

How many farmers are involved in the Cottage Industry and how many of them are women?
Potting Mix etc o Provision of Nursery Tools All Farmers under the Cottage Industry are Women and during the period of Review, more than 40 women farmer clusters were assisted.

10.

Page 45: Photo Clarification Refer to answer on 11 below.

11.

Can the Ministry clarify the narration on the bottom left photo on the Annual Report?

** Typing error - Narration should read - Narokorokoyawa Youth Training 12.

Page 46: Vanilla Development a.


Can the Ministry please advise the prices of vanilla from 2016 to current and how many farmers are actively involved?

Vanilla Cutting - $1 per cutting Dried Vanilla Beans - $400 - $600 per kg Currently more than 500 farmers are actively farming vanilla.

b.

Please provide statistics for vanilla growing including exports.

Export of Vanilla – 2016 -4.9m 2017 – 5.1m c. Can the Ministry please explain the status of Vanilla Development Program to date?
Average annual budget assigned to Vanilla Development program is around $100,000.

Activities undertaken includes: procurement of vanilla curing equipment and accessories, procurement of nursery materials, procurement of small farm equipment specific to Vanilla and training for farmers.

procurement vines, of FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2017 13.
Can the Ministry please clarify the actions taken to address the two (2) issues raised by the Auditor General as the basis for Qualified Accounts?

Ministry of Agriculture 2017-2018 Annual Report Questions 13.1.

Page 7: Legislated Functions a.

Can the Ministry provide details of its legislations and regulations that are currently under review?

b.

Has the Ministry looked into reviving the Banana and Coconut/Copra Industries?

13.2.
13.2.

Can the Ministry please explain why the figures were the same for pages 9,10,11,12 for the year 2017 – 2018 and pages 10 (except for Budget and Expenditure), 11 (except for budget expenditure), 12, 13 for the year 2016 – 2017?

13.3.

Page 14: Crop Extension Division a.


Output 1 – Maintaining Food Security through the Provision of Extension and Research Services for Corps, Livestock and Veterinary Services - Can the Ministry please clarify on what kind of mechanization is being carried out for dalo and yaqona?
Annex 2 - 2017-2018 The Ministry has successfully addressed this issue in the 2018 financial year which has resulted receiving an the ministry unqualified report in Legislation of Ministry’s Review and Regulations are currently on hold after passing of engaged consultant - Dr Moti.

Discussions with FAO are currently underway to proceed with review.

Otherwise for the time being progress are concentrated on legislation that urgently need review through endorsement of cabinet.
Yes through assigned commodity program through activities that covers – farmer Training, Value addition, rehabilitation, improve farm practices, setting up of copra driers for farmers [new or repair], new planting to improve seed bank.

Page 9 highlights linkages to People’s Charter key Pillars, since both Annual Reports are sourcing from the same document, the numbers will be the same.

Page 10: Key numbers, as alluded to earlier data on National indicators are produced according Calendar year.
Therefore, 2017- 2018 financial year highlighted Calendar Year Numbers could be representative of two financial years.

In this case, 2017 GDP is highlighted in both Annual Reports.

Page 12: Same as above, data collected according to Calendar Year.

The Ministry provides land clearing services for Dalo farming through providence of sub- sidized tractor hours whilst Yagona pounders are being installed in several Yagona farming clusters.

b.
b.

Output 3 – Assist in Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Productions Can the Ministry please clarify the process in progressing a subsistence farmer to a semi- commercial one?

trainings farmers, potential Upon evaluation of commercial progressively are farmers graduated to commercial farming through specialized Farm Management and Farming as a Business training) and assisted with planting materials to ensure and necessary graduation to semi-commercial.
Hand-holding for these farmers are important to maintain sustainability.

intervention (including 4.

Page 24: Success Story in Navosa Does the Ministry provide Training to up skill farmers venturing into commercial farming?

Please provide a list of training facilitated by the Ministry for farmers?
A few of the trainings, apart from technical training, are provided to farmers to enable graduation to commercial farming include; Farming as a business, Farm management, Agro-tourism training, Kava Farmers Training and Sustainable Land Management Practices.

5.

Page 27: Output 7 Portfolio, Leadership, Policy Advice and Secretariat Support a.

Is the Ministry planning to further decentralize rural and maritime agricultural stations?

Yes.
Yes.

Since implementation, this work has progressed over the years and in 2020, the Ministry recruited its Regional Managers with replacing Divisional added Principal Agriculture Officer positions.

responsibility b.

How many Agriculture Stations are there in the rural areas?

Please provide a list of the rural stations stated.

2016-2018 - Ministry have 78 stations in each District across Fiji where technical officers are situated.

Rural stations include: 1.


All the 14 provinces which have their respective Senior Agriculture Officers 2.
All the Districts have their respective district locality officers END Appendix 2 Annual Report Summary Ministry of Agriculture 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary Annual Report Summary – Ministry of Agriculture August 2016 – July 2017 Annual Report Standing Committee on Natural Resources Vision -“A Modernized Agriculture Sector providing food and income security for all Fijians” Mission -“To excel in the provision of customer focused and market driven services in the agricultural sector” Background The functions of the Ministry of Agriculture includes:  To accelerate agricultural product diversification into crops and livestock products where competitive advantage has been August 2016 – July 2017 Organization Structure Acts in Place Major Highlights identified  To facilitate private sector development  To promote food security  To ensure sustainable development in the non- sugar sector  The organizational structure can be seen on page 9 of the annual report.
 In 2016/2017, the Ministry of Agriculture had a total of 949 staff employed in different fields of technical areas providing services to farmers.

 The legislations and regulations of the Ministry can be seen on page 8 of the annual report.
 The Ministry’s activities in 2016/17 were aligned to the following 5 Government’s Key Pillars: o Pillar 4: Enhancing Public Sector Effectiveness and Service Delivery o Pillar 5: Achieving Higher Economic Growth while ensuring sustainability o Pillar 6: Making more Land Available for productive and Social services o Pillar 7: Developing an Integrated Development Structure at the Divisional Level o Pillar 8: Reduce Poverty to a Negligible Level by 2015 (full details on page 10 of the annual report)  Ministry of Agriculture Total Budget - $74.4 million; Actual Expenditure - $56.1 million  Crop & Livestock GDP - $500.8 million  Crop & Livestock Production - 255,435 mt  Crop & Livestock Sector Export - $194 million Page 1 of 7 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary  Crop & Livestock Sector Import - $645 million  Major Crop Commodities Performance 2016/17 can be seen on page 12 of the annual report.
 Major Livestock Commodities Performance 2016/17 can be seen on page 13 of the annual report.

 Crop Extension Division: o Crop Extension Division’s core responsibility is delivering quality and timely services to our customers.

This year the Division had 3 new inclusions to the twenty existing programmes.

They are Yaqona Development, Dalo Development and BQA & Non BQA commodities support services.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 4: Sustainable Management Of Natural Resources Through Flood Protection Programmes And Other Sustainable Land Management Practices  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development  Output 6: ROI Communities To Meet Basic Needs, Improve Living Standards Through Agriculture Development (full details on pages 15 - 17 of the annual report)  Animal Health & Production Division: o Livestock contributes to the farming operations of more than 41,918 farmers in Fiji.
Core functions of the Livestock Division are: provide knowledge and livestock related services to livestock industries, provides advice to government on the development of livestock sectoral policies and programs aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the livestock industry; provide animal health, regulatory and technical services to maintain and improve animal health status and prevent the introduction of exotic pests and diseases and promote and facilitate livestock research and development programs among other responsibilities.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development Page 2 of 7 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary  Output 6: ROI Communities To Meet Basic Needs, Improve Living Standards Through Agriculture Development  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy (full details on pages 24 - 27 of the annual report)  Crop Research Division: o A total of $2.83 million was allocated to fund the Divisional activities which mainly concentrated on developing economical agricultural technologies to increase local production and dissemination of research findings to stakeholders.
Major commodities under the program were rice; dalo, cassava, kumala, yams, potato, papaya, pineapple, tomatoes, chillies, eggplant, capsicum, pulses, maize, coconuts and cocoa were the focus of research activities during the year.

o A number of collaborative researches were carried out during the year including the ACIAR funded project: Soil Health Project, Integrated Crop Management; Developing Cleaner Export Pathway for Pacific Agriculture Commodities.
o The FJ$14 million Chinese government funded JUNCAO Mushroom Technology Centre continued at Legalega Research o Station.

o FAO Plant Treaty - Access & Benefit Sharing Fund/SPC funded US $26,000 for Building Resilience to Pacific Agricultural System to Climate Change through Enhancing Access and Use of Diversity (2014 – 2016) and SPC – IKSA funded $23,714 for Yaqona project.
o GEF (Global Environment Facility) funded $30,000 Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) study on the adaptation of Root Crops on Lowland Areas in Navua and Nakelo.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development  Output 6: ROI Communities To Meet Basic Needs, Improve Living Standards Through Agriculture Development  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy (full details on pages 32 - 34 of the annual report)  World Coconut Day Celebration o The Theme for the 2016 World Coconut Day Celebration is “Our Food, Our Shelter, Our Life”.
The two day event is a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Agriculture via Asian Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) and the coconut stakeholders in Fiji with the intension to increase the awareness on the importance of coconut to our economy and enhance its potential to alleviate poverty, improve livelihood and encourage investments (full details on page 36 of the annual report).
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services  Land & Water Resource Management Division: Annual Report Summary o The Land and Water Resource Management Division’s core function is to facilitate sustainable use of agricultural land and water resources through effective engineering services.

The Division’s activities focuses on the following:  Flood Protection-disaster mitigation activities, reduced vulnerability and risk of flooding in Nadi and Labasa.
 Watershed Management - Construction of check dams reduced the impact of flooding in Nadi - Water resource development for irrigation and drought mitigation  Land Drainage - Drainage infrastructure improvement and maintenance works in the Central, Northern and Western  Divisions.

Irrigation Service - Irrigation infrastructure development and maintenance works in irrigation schemes in the Central and Northern Division.
o Engineering support services provided includes agricultural development works for Extension, AH&P and Research Divisions within the Ministry of Agriculture, Prime Minister’s office, NDMO Office, Ministry of Lands, Local Government & Environment and Provincial offices in the geographical divisions.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 4: Sustainable Management of Natural Resources Through Flood Protection Programmes and other Sustainable Land Management Practices (full details on page 38 of the annual report)  Nadi River Flood Control Seminar o The two day Seminar on the project for the Planning of the Nadi River Flood Control Structure was held at the Tanoa Hotel in Nadi.
The Seminar was to discuss the project that has come to the concluding phase to share and exchange information on the study results and Japanese Technology in Flood Related Disaster Management (full details on page 39 of the annual report).

 Sigatoka River Dredging Project o The Ministry of Agriculture has entered into a contract with China Railway First Group for the first phase of the Sigatoka River Dredging Project.

The three-year project will be implemented in three phases.
o Through this project, 3.4km of the river will be dredged from the river mouth to approximately 1km below the Sigatoka Bridge and close to 1.2 million cubic meters of silt and sand is expected to be removed from the river bed.

o The first phase of the dredging works will commence from the river mouth and extend to 0.55kilometers upstream with a total volume of 300,000 cubic meters excavated.

This is expected to be completed by May, 2017.


(full details on page 40 of the annual report)  Land Resource Planning Division: o The Division’s core role is to ensure that the land is sustainably used according to its capabilities.
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary  Implement the provisions of the Land Conservation and Improvement Act of 1953  Conducts applied research, development, and validation of farming systems packages  Disseminates appropriate sustainable land management technologies  Develop and manage the Geographical Information Systems  Consolidates land resources information and its management  Build capacity and mainstreaming of SLM in Fiji  Combat land degradation in Fiji through the promotion of SLM  Disseminate information on sustainable land management  Regional and international collaborations, cooperation and consultation o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 4: Sustainable Management of Natural Resources Through Flood Protection Programmes and other Sustainable Land Management Practices  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy (full details on pages 42 - 44 of the annual report)  Economic Planning & Statistics Division: o The main function of the Division is to facilitate policy advice through policy analysis utilizing appropriate economic and econometric tools, and modules to formulate appropriate ministerial support relevant to the overall development of the sector.
The Division plays an important role in providing executive support services to management and appraises consultancy services to individuals and organizations, as and when it is required.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy Advice and Secretariat Support Page 5 of 7 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary (full details on pages 48 - 50 of the annual report)  Human Resource, Finance & Information Division: o The core role of the Human Resource, Finance & Information Division is to facilitate the best and excellent service support which are guided by the Public Service Commission General Orders, Financial Instructions and State Service Decree with relevant approved procedures.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy Advice and Secretariat Support (full details on pages 48 - 50 of the annual report) Financial Position Total Revenue Total Operating Expenditure Total Capital Expenditure 12 months 2017 ($) 638,213 26,847,313 7 months 2016 ($) 273,783 16,887,116 27,149,366 12,520,744 Total Expenditure Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Gross (Loss)/Profit Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Income Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Expense Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Net (Loss)/Profit Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Liability Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Equity Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Liability and Equities Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Assets Trust Account Statement of Receipts and Payments Land Water Resource Management and Land Resettlement Planning and Development - Total Receipts Land Water Resource Management and Land Resettlement Planning and Development - Total Payments Closing Balance as at 31 July The Auditor has audited the financial statements of the Ministry of Agriculture, which comprise the Statement of Receipts and Expenditure, Appropriation Statement, Consolidated Activity Trading Account, Consolidated Trading Activity Profit and Loss Account, Consolidated Trading Activity Balance Sheet, Trust Fund Account Statement of Receipts and Payments and Statement of 56,141,296 (142,752) (142,752) 255,799 (398,551) (22,113) 1,252,462 1,230,349 1,230,349 30,408,224 983,980 983,980 132,671 851,309 (22,113) 1,552,916 1,530,803 1,530,803 737,513 817,358 439,095 684,162 870,709 154,676 Auditor’s Opinion Page 6 of 7 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary Losses for the financial year ended 31 July 2017, and the notes to the financial statements including a summary of significant accounting policies.
In Auditors opinion, except for the effects of the matters described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion paragraphs, the accompanying financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Financial Management Act, Finance Instructions 2010 and the Finance (Amendment) Instructions 2016.

Basis for Qualified Opinion 1.

Included in the Land Water Resource Management (LWRM) Trust Fund Account balance is retention fund of $329,148.
The Ministry was unable to provide appropriate supporting documents to ascertain whether the retention period for the projects of which retention funds were retained are valid.

The balance is brought forward from prior years.

As a result, Auditor was unable to ascertain the accuracy and obligation of the retention fund of $329,148 included in the LWRM Trust Fund Account balance.

2.

The Ministry suffered loss through expiration of drugs and livestock mortality amounting to $63,405.
The amount of loss was not expensed, instead was directly adjusted to ending inventory balance thus overstating the cost of goods sold by $63,405.

Without further qualifying the opinion above, Auditor draws attention to the following: Internal controls over payroll expenses and management of inventory for Trading Activity were generally found to be weak and if not addressed promptly may result in material misstatements and possible financial losses in the future.
Gender Analysis No information on gender was provided in the annual report.

08 February 2022 Disclaimer This Annual Report Summary was prepared to assist the Standing Committee on Natural Resources in its review of the Ministry of Agriculture August 2016 – July 2017 Annual Report.

This summary should not be relied on as a substitute for specific advice.

Other sources and information should be consulted.


Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji will not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may be incurred by any person acting in reliance upon the information.

The Parliament of the Republic of Fiji accepts no responsibility for any references or links to, or the content of, information maintained by third parties.
For further information please email: Shobhna Rani on shobna.rani@parliament.gov.fj Page 7 of 7 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary Annual Report Summary – Ministry of Agriculture August 2017 – July 2018 Annual Report Standing Committee on Natural Resources Vision -“A Modernized Agriculture Sector providing food and income security for all Fijians” Mission -“To excel in the provision of customer focused and market driven services in the agricultural sector” Background The functions of the Ministry of Agriculture includes:  To accelerate agricultural product diversification into crops and livestock products where competitive advantage has been August 2017 – July 2018 Organization Structure Acts in Place Major Highlights identified  To facilitate private sector development  To promote food security  To ensure sustainable development in the non- sugar sector  The organizational structure can be seen on page 8 of the annual report.
 The legislations and regulations of the Ministry can be seen on page 7 of the annual report.
 The Ministry’s activities in 2017/18 were aligned to the following 5 Government’s Key Pillars: o Pillar 4: Enhancing Public Sector Effectiveness and Service Delivery o Pillar 5: Achieving Higher Economic Growth while ensuring sustainability o Pillar 6: Making more Land Available for productive and Social services o Pillar 7: Developing an Integrated Development Structure at the Divisional Level o Pillar 8: Reduce Poverty to a Negligible Level by 2015 (full details on page 9 of the annual report)  Ministry of Agriculture Total Budget - $99.3 million; Actual Expenditure - $87.5 million  Crop & Livestock GDP - $500.8 million  Crop & Livestock Production - 255,435 mt  Crop & Livestock Sector Export - $194 million  Crop & Livestock Sector Import - $645 million Page 1 of 6 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary  Major Crop Commodities Performance in 2017/18 can be seen on page 11 of the annual report.
 Major Livestock Commodities Performance in 2017/18 can be seen on page 12 of the annual report.
 Crop Extension Division: o The key roles of the crop extension division include:  Promotion of appropriate technologies for adoption  Provision of technical advice to farmers  To identify potential agriculture projects and prepare agriculture project plan  Facilitate implementation of agricultural project  Capacity building for farmers and Agriculture officials in the areas of farm business planning and farm business advisory services  Monitoring of agriculture projects o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 4: Sustainable Management Of Natural Resources Through Flood Protection Programmes And Other Sustainable Land Management Practices  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agriculture Development  Output 6: ROI Communities To Meet Basic Needs, Improve Living Standard Through Agriculture Development (full details on pages 14 - 15 of the annual report)  Animal Health & Production Division: o The Animal Health & Production Division is responsible in providing advice to government on the development of livestock sectorial policies and programs aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the livestock industry.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development Page 2 of 6 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary  Output 6: ROI Communities To Meet Basic Needs, Improve Living Standards Through Agriculture Development  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy (full details on page 20 of the annual report)  Crop Research Division: o The research activities mainly concentrated on developing economical agricultural technologies to increase local production and dissemination of research findings to stakeholders.
o Major commodities under the program were rice, dalo, cassava, kumala, yams, potato, papaya, pineapple, tomatoes, chilli, eggplant, capsicum, pulses, maize, coconuts & cocoa were the focus of research activities during the year.
The activities were supported by the analysis of soil, foliar, animal feed, food products and water by the Fiji Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory and technical support & advisory services given by Plant Pathology, Entomology & Fruit Fly Research, Tropical Weed Research and Pesticide Registration from Plant Protection Section services.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation Of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development  Output 6: ROI Communities To Meet Basic Needs, Improve Living Standards Through Agriculture Development  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy (full details on pages 26 - 27 of the annual report) o Other Services - The laboratory also provides practical attachment opportunities for tertiary students who wanted to have some hands-on experiences and training in the laboratory (full details on pages 26 - 27 of the annual report).
o Seed production remained as one of the main activities especially in the production of BQA seeds (full details on pages 27 - 28 of the annual report).

o About 15 crops were produced at the research stations and supplied to farmers through the Extension Division (full details on page 29 of the annual report).
 Land Resource Planning & Development Division: o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 1: Maintaining Food Security Through The Provision of Extension And Research Services For Crops, Livestock And Veterinary Services Page 3 of 6 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation of Demand Driven Approach and other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 4: Sustainable Management of Natural Resources Through Flood Protection Programmes and other Sustainable Land Management Practices  Output 5: Ensuring Equal Access For Women In Agricultural Development  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy (full details on pages 32 of the annual report)  Economic Planning & Statistics Division: o The mission of the division is to excel in the provision of sound economic planning and policy advice for the development of Fiji’s agriculture sector.
This is achieved by the Policy, Fiji Rural Statistics, Project and Budget, Agriculture trade and Monitoring and Evaluation sections.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 2: Quick Economic Recovery Through The Implementation of Demand Driven Approach And Other Commodity Projects  Output 3: Assist In Poverty Alleviation by Capacity Building of Farmers to Increase Production  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy Advice and Secretariat Support (full details on pages 35 of the annual report)  Human Resource, Finance & Information Division: o The Human Resource, Finance and Information division facilitated all administrative activities of the ministry including maintenance and development of its human and capital resources, media coverage, information dissemination, and financial aspects of the Ministry.
o The achievements of the Division were based on the following outputs:  Output 7: Portfolio Leadership, Policy Advice and Secretariat Support (full details on pages 38 of the annual report) Financial Position Total Receipts Total Operating Expenditure Total Capital Expenditure Total Expenditure Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Gross (Loss)/Profit 2018 ($) 947,800 27,774,881 57,720,375 87,501,626 483,518 2017 ($) 638,213 26,847,313 27,149,366 56,141,296 (142,752) Page 4 of 6 PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Income Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Expense Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Net (Loss)/Profit Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Liability Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Equity Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Liability and Equities Consolidated Trading Account - Commercial Undertaking Total Assets Trust Account Statement of Receipts and Payments Land Water Resource Management and Land Resettlement Planning and Development - Total Receipts Land Water Resource Management and Land Resettlement Planning and Development - Total Payments Closing Balance as at 31 July The Auditor has audited the financial statements of the Ministry of Agriculture, which comprise the Statement of Receipts and Expenditure, Appropriation Statement, Consolidated Activity Trading Account, Consolidated Trading Activity Profit and Loss Account, Consolidated Trading Activity Balance Sheet, Trust Fund Account Statement of Receipts and Payments and Statement of Losses for the financial year ended 31 July 2018, and the notes to the financial statements including a summary of significant accounting policies.
483,518 377,335 106,183 (22,113) 1,105,789 1,083,676 1,083,676 (142,752) 260,306 (403,058) (22,113) 1,155,253 1,133,140 1,133,140 818,684 - 737,513 817,358 870,709 1,326 Auditor’s Opinion In Auditors opinion, the accompanying financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the Financial Management Act, Finance Instructions 2010 and the Finance (Amendment) Instructions 2016.
Other Matter Internal controls over payroll expenses, procurement processes and management of inventory for Trading Activity were generally found to be weak and if not addressed promptly may result in material misstatements and possible financial losses in the future.

Gender Analysis No information on gender was provided in the annual report.
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI Research and Library Services Annual Report Summary 09 February 2022 Disclaimer This Annual Report Summary was prepared to assist the Standing Committee on Natural Resources in its review of the Ministry of Agriculture August 2017 – July 2018 Annual Report.

This summary should not be relied on as a substitute for specific advice.

Other sources and information should be consulted.


Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji will not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may be incurred by any person acting in reliance upon the information.

The Parliament of the Republic of Fiji accepts no responsibility for any references or links to, or the content of, information maintained by third parties.
For further information please email: Shobhna Rani on shobna.rani@parliament.gov.fj Page 6 of 6