CREATING A NEW MARKET FOR NGALI NUTS

BANIATA, WESTERN PROVINCE, SOLOMON ISLANDS

Baniata is a rural village of around 100 households on the coast of Rendova, in Solomon Islands’ Western Province. The hills overlooking the
village is filled with trees bearing ngali nuts, an indigenous and protein-rich nut with a taste similar to almonds.

Until 2016, anyone in Baniata who wanted to harvest and sell ngali nuts could do so, but it came at a cost. The only option was to ship the nuts to Honiara, where informal buyers agreed to do business on the condition that farmers pay the high price of transport. In most cases, farmers also had to follow the ship to ensure safe arrival. Having to pay for shipping and sea fares cut deeply into farmers’ pockets, and for many, it rendered selling unviable.

For the last two years, Zai Na Tina—a Solomon Islands business that promotes organic agriculture—has been working to change the
game for Baniata’s ngali nut farmers. With backing from the Solomon Islands Rural Development Program (RDP), Zai Na Tina has partnered with Baniata’s farmers to provide a range of programs to increase their capacity for selling ngali nuts.

Under the partnership with Zai Na Tina, farmers are responsible for the full process of production, from picking the nuts to baking. Zai Na Tina handles the rest after that, picking up the nuts directly from the village and covering the cost of transport. Zai Na Tina packages the nuts in Honiara, and then sells them both domestically and abroad.

We love the project because it brings the market straight to us,

explained Christina, a mother of 4 and one of 60 registered ngali nut farmers in Baniata.

Christina sold 36 kilos of ngali nuts to Zai Na Tina last year, and she’s on pace to sell more in 2018. Previously, Christina’s only income came from occasional trips to Munda, where she’d earn about SI$150 selling betelnut and cassava.

Now she has the potential to earn exponentially more by selling ngali nuts to Zai Na Tina, and without the burden of traveling to Munda.

The ngali nut farmers—a third of whom are women—are in the process of receiving their organic certification through a participatory guarantee system, and Zai Na Tina is also in the final stages of receiving its international food safety (HACCP) certification. Once these certifications are in hand, Zai Na Tina will sell ngali nuts to health food stores in New Caledonia and Fiji.

With sales expected to grow, Zai Na Tina and RDP are working closely with Baniata’s farmers to ensure they can meet the demand. RDP has funded the planting of 500 new ngali nut trees, and it has also financed the construction of a baking house and storage unit in Baniata to increase the village’s production capacity.

In addition to providing a stable source of income for farmers, Zai Na Tina invests 10% of its profits into a community development fund which is
earmarked for education and health projects in Baniata. Knowing that their labor is contributing to the fund gives farmers promise for the future, and they have already agreed that a new primary school will be their first priority once they’ve raised enough funds.