Project News

On 10th Oct 2017, CAAKUB revisited village council members in Maliana I to present the outcomes of the first cropping and its plan to purchase paddies for the second cropping.

The village council meeting by the CAAKUB in Ritabou village was attended by the chief of the village, heads of sub-villages, farmer's group and youth representatives as well as the university students from the Public Health Department who are currently conducting their social activities in the village. Mr. Masafumi Nagaishi, the Chief Representative and other members from the JICA Timor-Leste office also observed the meeting.

The meeting was a great opportunity for the CAAKUB not only to present to the village council members about the outcomes of the first cropping but most importantly to pass on customers' voices from Dili over the demands for domestic rice as well as their preferences for certain varieties of domestic rice.

Through the meeting, farmers in Maliana I were recommended and convinced to grow varieties of rice based on the market demands. On the other hand, current efforts of the CAAKUB to promote domestic rice to the market as well as the progress of its Test Sales at MAF in Dili were also shared with them.

Furthermore, results of the recent laboratory test on samples of domestic rice from Japan Food Research Laboratories in Tokyo were also shared with the participants to help them understand more about the nutritious level of the domestic rice and its benefits for health.

Mr. Diamantino dos Reis, President of the CAAKUB said that the number of the customers for domestic rice is expected to increase as the CAAKUB expands its sales in the future. In addition, he said that since the CAAKUB is intended to deliver fresh rice to its customers in every harvesting season of October, it will sell all the remaining rice from the first cropping before starting to sell the new rice from the second cropping in the middle of November.

Mr. Shinji Hironaka, Japanese Expert on Agricultural Distribution and Sales explained that even though the Timorese people have general ideas about the nutrition of the domestic rice, there has been no scientific information so far to prove it. He hopes that through the scientific information, both farmers and customers will be able to understand more the advantage of consuming domestic rice for their health and gradually change their attitudes to producing and consuming more domestic rice in the future.

On the other hand, Mr. Nagaishi said that he was delighted to join the meeting and learn more about the Project. He thanked the university students for attending the meeting and asked them to pass on the information related to domestic rice's nutrition to farmers during their visit. In addition, Mr. Nagaishi asked the village council members to cooperate more closely with the Project in the future.

Mr. Venancio Tilman (43), Chief of Sub-Village from Diruaben who is a farmer himself said that he grew IR 64 in the past, but after having listened to the customers' preferences in Dili, he was convinced to grow varieties of rice that are currently on high demands in the market. He now knows that if he grows varieties of paddy based on the market demand, his paddy will sell out faster compared to other farmers who do not consider it.

Ms. Ermelinda Cardoso (23), a university student from the University of Dili who majors in Public Health said that she and her colleagues did not know about the nutrition of domestic rice until they attended the meeting. She thanked the Project for giving them such valuable information from Japan. She is also planning to use it as a reference when promoting nutrition to the community in the future. Finally, Ms. Ermelinda mentioned that she plans to include domestic rice as part of her main meal since she learned that domestic rice has higher nutrition, even though she used to consume domestic rice occasionally only for her breakfast.

Mr. Diamantino presented the CAAKUB's activities to Village Council members in Ritabou village.

Mr. Diamantino presented the CAAKUB's activities to Village Council members in Ritabou village.

The CAAKUB conducted a meeting with Village Council in Odomau Village.

The CAAKUB conducted a meeting with Village Council in Odomau Village.

Participants asking questions during the meeting.

Participants asking questions during the meeting.

University students from the Public Health Department of the University of Dili who joined the meeting.