Nishi Foundation is the community support arm of Nishi Trading Company Limited in Tonga and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life within local communities. It achieves this by supporting projects that focus on health, education, and agricultural growth.

PIFON – Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network

The Pacific Island Farmers Organisation Network serves as an umbrella organisation for national farmer organisations in the Pacific region, to coordinate capacity building, share success stories and the lessons learnt and support regional exchanges of expertise between farmer organisations and their associated private sector partners. Nishi Trading has partnered with PIFON in various projects such as FO4ACP and FORI – Pacific Breadfruit Project to improve livelihoods, food security and climate change adaptations for small holder farmers and their communities.

PACIFIC HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS (PHAMA) PLUS PROGRAM

In Tonga , PHAMA Plus collaborated with private & public sectors to support increased production and maintain export markets for root crops and horticulture products. PHAMA Plus has worked with Nishi Trading Ltd to improve yield, supply and export of horticulture products from Tonga.

JICA, TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE and Mordi Tonga PARTNERSHIP – BREADFRUIT PROJECT

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded a 5 year project between the The Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA), Government of Tonga, Mainstreaming of Rural Development Innovation Tonga Trust (MORDI TT) and Nishi Trading Co. Limited for the ‘Improvement of Livelihood and Health Conditions of Tongan People by the Effective Utilization and Processing Products of Breadfruit.

Through extensive research the Tokyo University of Agriculture found that breadfruit was found to be be neglected and wasted.

The project is working with communities to reevaluate the usefulness of breadfruit development with new cultivation techniques of breadfruit, expansion of new processing technology, development of new value chain of breadfruit by increasing exports and the development of social business by the collaborative activities of private sector and the community.

Business Partnerships Platform- Root Crop Value Chains

This partnership brings together Tongan agribusiness Nishi Trading and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to increase productivity of existing root crop exports and add new value-added product lines. Nishi Trading will build a cool storage facility, benefiting farmers through less product wastage resulting in increased incomes. Nishi Trading will also lease land to female smallholder suppliers, while partner NGO Mainstreaming of Rural Development Innovation (MORDI) will support farmers through field schools with a focus on farming value chains and nutrition.

This partnership will support Nishi Trading to capitalise on an identified market opportunity. It will increase export sales of locally grown produce and create opportunities for competitive import substitution. In the process, farmer incomes will increase, and women will be supported to move into the agricultural value chain.

Mai e Nima and NRL Tonga

Our Mai e Nima or Give Me Five aims to improve the health and well being of primary school students by educating them about the benefits of eating a variety of fruit and vegetables and as a result, establish life-long healthy eating habits.

With the formation of a partnership with the NRL Tonga the Mai e Nima message and philosophy is enhanced with their healthy lifestyle and wellbeing program that includes rugby league and other sport throughout Tongatapu and the outer islands. The organisation is supported by a committee and is a not for profit group working closely with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health as part of the national drive to fight the current non-communicable disease crisis in Tonga.

AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH – CITRUS PROJECT

A 4 year project that aimed to increase the efficiency of fruit value chains, provide targeted capacity building to the private sector and government extension services and enhance the engagement of smallholder farmers and communities in managed orchards to reduce fruit imports and improve nutrition.

Professor Underhill from the University of Sunshine Coast worked alongside Nishi Trading as a commercial partner and MORDI Tonga providing the community interface to set up five commercial orchards in Tongatapu and ‘Eua. ACIAR have also contributed extensively through faciliated training and capacity building in citrus planting, fertilizing, pruning, weed control, irrigation and pest and disease identification and control.

The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited

The goal of the Climate-Smart Pacific Food Systems Program is to build the wellbeing and resilience of communities to the impacts of climate change through Pacific-led, climate-smart food systems.