Thousands of vegetable seeds, such as spinach, eggplant, capsicum, carrot, and more, were donated to the ‘Eua community by Heilala Vanilla, to help them establish a nursery.

Heilala Vanilla has partnered with MORDI to deliver up to 20,000 of each of the 20 types of vegetable seeds to the community and also provide sustainable assistance to establish a nursery. The seedlings will then be provided to farmers on ‘Eua to grow for supporting their families.

Sela Latu from Heilala Vanilla and Lorfan Pomana from MORDI presented the seeds today to the Representative for ‘Eua and Minister for Finance, Hon Tevita Lavemaau, who was pleased with the donation.

“I am very thankful for the donation because I am a strong supporter of pushing the community to get into it especially the women’s group, and the farmers as well,” he said.

He suggested the seedlings could be planted at existing plantations and grown in between rows of crops such as yams.

“We can grow tomatoes and cabbage and by Christmas time we can have our own supply.”

Heilala Vanilla CEO Jennifer Boggiss, in New Zealand, said MORDI and Heilala Vanilla shared the common purpose and mission to support and empower agricultural communities in the Kingdom of Tonga.

Heilala Vanilla [2] makes products such as vanilla extract from Tongan grown vanilla, which are sold to consumers around the world. The company supports various projects and communities in Tonga.

MORDI helps rural isolated communities in Tonga fight poverty through community development projects and skills development training.