Happy Chickens for Fiji Food & Climate Emergency!

The fuel crisis threatens the supply chain and is impacting neighboring farms and the coastal communities we work in.  At the farm, so far direct impacts have been averted by the frugal use of fuel and by reliance on feeds produced right here: especially coconut, corn, cassava, food scraps, and forage greens.  Farming families have had to stop relying on chicken feed, going local with feeds as well, as they continue to rely on their chickens for their food security.  

The Global fuel shortages are beginning to hit the Pacific Islands and the coming months are looking rather bleak.  Feed costs, fuel costs, and electricity costs all impact the Happy Chickens project. We have jumped into action by installing solar power to the entire farm, and we have expanded the outside woodburning kitchen, all from personal savings.  The chickens are going local more than ever with their feeds, and we take fewer trips to town, about 20km away.   

We are just now harvesting our six new varieties of corn, and we have trialed them both in the summer hot/wet season and the winter cool/dry season.  We have definate winners and losers.  We will discontinue three varieties altogether, because Fiji does not seem to have long enough days for them to flourish as they are adapted to high latitudes.  The red corn from the coastal islands of South Carolina is the clear winner in both seasons, and the green corn from Mexico comes in second, doing great in the summer but not so well in our winter.  The multi-colored corn produces a small crop, but it is too pretty to not continue growing LOL!  Perhaps we can just use if for decoration?

Austin found an old "grow more food"one cent coin, and saw it as a sign, and we have done just that! We also have expanded our gardens and have lent surplus land to two families. Our neighbor plowed our fields in appreciation.  We hosted a youth training camp at the Teitei farm in June for 35 young university students fro ten days, and they were all introduced to happy chickens and cassava/corn intercropping.  

Wife Kim has her monthly women's meeting for the surrounding farms, and last month the topic was food security in this time of hardshp. 20+ of the neighbor women gathered at the farm to share a meal as well as ideas. The women spoke of the food crops that they used to grow in the past, but have mostly discontinued, and they have determined to find the seeds and diversify their gardens.  

This report starts with dawn at our Sigatoka valley farm.  The new day is emblematic of how everyone needs to think and plan for both the immediate & long-term future: conserving, building upon communal knowledge, and storing up reserves when the situation dictates. We can reach out to our neighbors and becomemore self sufficient wherever we live. The report closes with a photo of the Fiji Minister of Agriculture and the Australian High Commisioner on their formal visit and tour of the Teitei Farm- a strong sign that our work is being noticed!       

Thanks as always for helping with your donations, as they are helping devise ways of feeding an island nation.  Austin

Imported Meat Bird Chicks are good layers, and they grow quickly!  These will be used in breeding to increase the productivity of our mixed-breed flocks.  Many of our hens have died of old age, and so we were raising up new hens, but we ended up giving away too many of our point-of-lay hens to the Moturiki community, that we have a shortage of eggs for the incubator!   So now we are playing catch-up!