11 May 2015

UN farming help for Solomons' Temotu

8:13 am on 11 May 2015

Farmers in the Solomon Islands province of Temotu are receiving supplies from the UN as part of a project aimed at promoting resilient agriculture.

Tools and seeds are being shipped to eight communities on Santa Cruz Island which were impacted by a 2013 tsunami.

The Knowledge Hub project promotes the planting of more resilient crops and the sharing of information.

A local co-ordinator Helen Maebuta says one village was able to share how they grew cabbage crops in difficult conditions.

"The site where they grow the vegetables, it was really rocky. They say they used something from the environment. Dead leaves and coconut trunks and the dead ones. They used an axe to pound it to mix the soil and make it more fertile. To me it is something really new. I never thought if you plant something in the rocks or something like that and it will grow."

Damage caused by last year's earthquake and tsunami in Temotu, Solomon Islands

Tsunami damaged coastal Temotu in 2013 Photo: World Vision / AFP