Fiji's first organic certified product has been launched as farmers are being encouraged to return to sustainable agriculture.
Lemon grass tea. Photo: Supplied
Lemon grass tea was launched by local NGO, the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development, known as FRIEND, last week.
Its director Sashi Kiran says 50 farmers are supplying lemon grass tea in Vanua Levu and western Viti Levu.
She says the process to certify the product, with the help of EU funding, was a long one but will reap long-term benefits.
"The whole thing about organic is not only putting a product out there that's healthy and it's not got chemicals but it's also trying to get sustainable agriculture back, trying to look at how nature works in agriculture for health and sustainability. So it feeds into a larger programme of socio-economic health."
Sashi Kiran says they've had interest in exporting the lemon grass tea.
European Commissioner for International Development and Cooperation, Neven Mimica at the recent launch of the tea. Photo: Supplied