Increasing domestic food production has been identified as one of the strategic goals to improve food security and create conditions for healthier livelihoods in Nauru. COL has been working with the Nauruan education and agriculture departments and the Taiwanese Technical Mission to develop a mobile app to help grow kitchen gardens as one of the strategies to assist in decreasing the country’s reliance on air-freighted fresh produce.

COL recently facilitated a series of in-country workshops to explore the design, technology options and functionalities of the app that will share information on how to grow plants effectively, offer cooking tips and recipes, and enable local extension officers to answer questions from the community of backyard farmers.

According to Marissa Cook, Director of Agriculture Department, the workshops reached a wide range of stakeholders and everyone is looking forward to the app.

Daniel Lee, Head of the Taiwan Technical Mission, whose team are providing the content for the app, noted that similar mobile learning could be relevant for other small Pacific countries, such as Tuvalu and Kiribati.

Ms Terry Neal, COL Education Specialist: Technical and Vocational Skills Development, said that COL is supporting skills development that is relevant to more than half of the country’s population, and is helping Nauru achieve its aspiration to have more than 70% of the average Nauruan diet sourced locally.

“Over time, Nauru will be able to extend use of the app to include support for other local food production, and there is potential for other Commonwealth small island nations to use the ‘online baskets for knowledge’ being developed to solve similar challenges of local food production,” she added.