"We need to honour our farmers for the outstanding contribution they have made to the nation’s economy,” says the new Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Crop and Livestock Council, Lavinia Kaumaitotoya.
Looking to the future, Mrs Kaumaitotoya says, “We also need to encourage the younger generation to see farming as a viable career.”
In her new role, Mrs Kaumaitotoya aims to raise the profile and represent the needs of 30,000 farmers across the nation.
“We will work with our farmers on increasing the yield and quality of their crops and size of their businesses,” she said.
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Mrs Kaumaitotoya brings with her the experience of a hands-on farmer of cash-crop vegetables, and more recently layer chicken breeding.
She is a member of the Nadi Ward [congregation] of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her husband, Solomone, is their congregation’s lay minister.
The Kaumaitotoya’s have three children — two boys and one girl.
Mrs Kaumaitotoya says she became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the influence of her mother-in law and others.
“At the lowest times of my life, I remember being visited by the ‘men in white shirts.’ These men were the local leaders of the Church here in Nadi.”
Mr and Mrs Kaumaitotoya’s oldest son, Sefanaa, has just returned after two years as a missionary for the Church in Eugene, Oregon in the U. S. Their second son, Tukai, is preparing to be a missionary also.