Project: Strengthening NWDG – Making the vision a reality

Timeframe: April 2023 – March 2025

Location: Naitasiri

Focus  Area: Women’s Leadership & Decision Making
Project Date: February 2018 – January 2019
Grant Value: Type C – FJ $15,000
Area of Focus: Institutional strengthening of NWDG

About the Project
Naitasiri Women in Dairy Group (NWDG) was established in June 2017 by a group of women dairy farmers to share farming knowledge, issues, challenges, and experiences encountered as women in a traditionally male-dominated industry. The  NWDG comprised of 26 women who own or manage family-run dairy farms in the province of Naitasiri on Viti Levu. Working collectively, the group aims to improve daily milk production and sustain an income to enhance the livelihoods of its members.

The group has received support and technical assistance from stakeholders such as the Ministry of Agriculture for veterinarian services. The NWDG began when women dairy owners and managers decided to help fellow women dairy farmers who had fewer resources and needed assistance on their farms to become fully-fledged dairy farmers. The group has organised themselves into working groups and meet every Monday to work on a member’s farm, weeding paddocks and planting grass for cows.

 Naitasiri Women in Dairy Group (NWDG) sort a grant from the Fiji Women’s Fund to help it conduct activities across the following programmatic areas:

  • Establishment of office space and strengthening operating procedures & governance institutions of the group.
  • Collective farm work to increase milk production, improve pastures.
  • Construction and upgrade of milk stands/ sheds to improve storage, maintain quality of milk, increase income earned.
  • Development of promotion materials and increase visibility for NWDG.
  • Financial Literacy and First Aid Training.

About the NWDG
Naitasiri Women in Dairy Group (NWDG) was formed in June 2017 to share dairy farming knowledge, issues, challenges, and experiences encountered as women in a male-dominated industry. Working collectively, the group aims to improve daily milk production and sustain income that will enhance the livelihoods of its members. The group has received support and technical assistance from relevant stakeholders such as the Ministry of Agriculture enabling them to gain further knowledge.