Tthirty-four women from the Model Town Charity Trust’s (MTCT) Koroipita Community received training on how to grow and manage an orchid nursery at South Sea Orchids in Nadi yesterday.
The training came in the wake of a recent partnership between the Australian Government’s Business Partnership Platform (BPP), South Sea Orchids (SSO), Floriculture Support Association (FSA) and MTCT Koroipita Community.
One of the biggest outcomes of the training was the expected establishment of 17 new nurseries. MTCT Community development manager Phyllis Danford said the project would not only provide means for income for Koroipita women and their families, but also make them more visible and add value in terms of their contribution towards the community and their respective families.
“These new nurseries will add to the existing 17 nurseries built 13 years ago and it will support roughly 15 per cent of the women from MTCT Koroipita Community,” she said.
Ms Danford said the program would help the women “become more business minded”.
“The establishment of their cut-flower businesses would not only improve their livelihoods but the skills learnt would come in handy later in life.”
She said the women managed to support their families even during the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic through the sale of orchids.
