Single father sets target

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Naibuka Inakula supplies ginger to private companies as well to the Government for export. Picture: MATILDA SIMMONS

FOR more than 10 years Naibuka Inakula toiled in the hot sun to get his ginger and dalo farm running like a commercial business.

It’s a journey that he often reflects on after the obstacles he had to go through.

The Gusuisavu, Naitasiri villager started farming after he got married and had a daughter.

“It was a tough life,” he said quietly.

“When my daughter was still a toddler, my wife left us.”

The single father took it upon himself to look after their child who is now in Year 4.

“I had to learn to cook, wash our clothes and be a parent to my daughter,” he said.

However, he didn’t stop working hard on his farm.

“It was about four years of farming that I finally carried out my harvest, and I can’t tell you how satisfying it felt,” he smiled.

We met the farmer at a school in Naitasiri where he was seen dropping off children from his village.

Clad in his farm clothes, it was obvious he was on his way to check on his farm.

“The challenges were hard, being a single parent, cooking for my child and so on but then my business began to look up, I managed to employ the youths in my village, buy the manure for my farm. Managed to get a contract with the Government who buys my ginger and save,” he said.

“My goal is to expand my business and my farm, I want to follow how the Indo Fijian farmers operate. There’s a lot of plans I would like to carry out but for the moment I’d like to keep it to myself.”

Apart from supplying 10 tonnes of ginger annually to exporters, Mr Inakula sells his bundles of dalo on the roadside for extra income.

His daily schedule includes waking up every morning at 4am to prepare his daughter for school, drop her off then head to his farm which is about an hour’s drive away.

He works on his farm until midday, then returns home with some harvest for their dinner or to sell at his roadside market.

“Ginger is a monthly crop, it’s easy to look after and to harvest; even dalo. My advice to fellow young men out there is don’t be idle, enough with drinking grog and sleeping in. Make use of your time wisely. If you work hard, only you will reap the benefits.”

Mr Inakula shared that he dropped out of school at age 15 when his mother passed away and his father suffered a stroke.

“I had to look after my siblings until they were able to fend for themselves and they are all working now and doing well,” he said.

“I count farming as a blessing, it’s my life.”

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