FNU Vice-Chancellor Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba and Representative of the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji Mr David Cheng-Wei Wu after the MOU signing today.
Students from the Fiji National University (FNU), will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in modern agricultural technologies and practices through a new partnership between FNU and the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM).
Under the partnership, students from FNU’s College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (CAFF) will undertake industrial attachments at TTM’s Centre for Agricultural Technology Transfer (CATT) in Nausori, gaining practical experience in areas such as tissue culture, smart greenhouse operations and the production of high-value crops, including guava and dragon fruit.
The opportunity is one of the key outcomes of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed today between CAFF and TTM.
FNU Vice-Chancellor Professor Unaisi Nabobo-Baba said the partnership would give students an opportunity to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it in a real agricultural setting.
“There are some things you simply cannot learn from a textbook or within the four walls of a lecture room. Our students need opportunities to see, experience and apply what they are learning,” Professor Nabobo-Baba said.
She added that exposure to modern agricultural practices was particularly important as Fiji works to strengthen food security and build a more resilient agriculture sector.
“We want our graduates to leave FNU with more than a qualification. We want them to have the knowledge, practical skills and confidence to contribute meaningfully to Fiji’s agriculture sector,” the Vice-Chancellor reiterated.
Professor Nabobo-Baba further stated that the partnership also reflected FNU’s commitment to working closely with industry and development partners to ensure its programmes remained relevant to the needs of Fiji and the region.
Representative of the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji, Mr David Cheng-Wei Wu, said the signing marked another milestone in the longstanding partnership between Taiwan and Fiji.
“For almost five decades, the Taiwan Technical Mission has worked alongside our Fiji partners to support farming communities, promote agricultural innovation and strengthen resilient and sustainable food systems,” Mr Wu said.
He added that the partnership with FNU was important because the future of agriculture depended not only on technology, but also on the people who would use and advance it.
“If we want to secure the future of agriculture, we must invest in the next generation, our young scientists, researchers and agricultural pioneers. This partnership gives students the opportunity to learn, gain practical experience and become part of that future,” Mr Wu further stated.
Through the partnership, FNU students will be able to gain first-hand experience with technologies and practices that are being used to improve agricultural productivity and resilience. For FNU, the partnership also provides an opportunity to strengthen the connection between education, research and industry, while giving students greater exposure to the realities of modern agriculture.
For the students who will take part, it is more than an industrial attachment. It is an opportunity to learn from industry, develop practical skills and begin building the knowledge and experience they will need to shape the future of agriculture in Fiji.
As Fiji continues to respond to changing climate conditions, food security challenges and the need for more sustainable agricultural production and partnerships such as this, can help ensure that the country has a skilled workforce, ready to meet those challenges.