Herman: So much to gain from our land

By ROSELYN ELLISON
HERMAN Valvalu looks at his farm in Kokopo as a classroom where lessons can be learnt.
“My farm is like a classroom where everyone can come and learn what I do, go back and do the same on their own land.”
He is from Ramale in the Kokopo-Vunamami urban local level government and is married to Christine from Yangoru in East Sepik but born and raised in Malakuna, Bitapaka LLG in Kokopo.
Christian, a qualified nurse, left her job to come and help her husband run their farm called the Eden Sanctuary.
Herman had spent 25 years in the agriculture sector after graduating from the Vudal Agriculture College, now the University of Natural Resources and Environment. He studied there from 1984 to 1986. He joined the plantation industry after college.

Then from 1991 to 2001, Herman worked with the division of agriculture and livestock in Pomio district.
He left his paid job to help develop the Tobera plantation.
He and Christine see the big potential in agriculture and are encouraging people to experience the benefits of farming the land which has so much wealth buried under the surface.
They see a brighter future for everyone if there is more focus on agriculture in a land abundant in resources.
Herman and Christine own more than 15 hectares of land in the Tobera plantation growing vegetables, cocoa and copra.
They have been supplying food to supermarkets and the markets around Kokopo.
When the State of Emergency lockdown began in March, Eden Sanctuary was the first organisation to supply garden food mainly greens and vegetables to the people living in the six wards in the Raluana local level government.
“Because we have surplus food, I decided to share it with everyone. So I loaded three trucks and deliver food to the people in Raluana.”
One big lesson he thinks people can learn from the Covid-19 is how so many people are left vulnerable and on the brink of poverty and starvation because they had nothing put aside to fall back on when there is an emergency.

“ My farm is like a classroom where everyone can come and learn what I do, go back and do the same on their own land.”

“I see many people hungry. I never experience something like that. I used to go the market and sell but during the lockdown, people came to my farm to buy food especially greens and vegetables.”
He urged everyone to start planting their own food.
“Now people who depend on the market for garden food are suffering the most.”
He encourages people to visit his “classroom” farm and see how he does integrated farming. He is also working with the Kokonut Industri Korporesen and others to carry out the Covid-19 food security response operation. His farm will be used as a “demonstration”.
“I want to do my business and also to get stakeholders together to do their programme on my farm. In that way we are working for the betterment of the people.”
He sees food security as the biggest challenge.
“Are the people of the province going to sit down and wait for the minority farming the land to supply them food or are they going to plant their own food too?”
He believes that the answer to that problem lies in the land which the people have so much of but are lazy to use.