Future Thinkers' Awards winner Leikitah Katah Naituku’s research project is helping smallholder farmers increase the resilience of their food production systems.
The Future Thinkers' Awards is an initiative led by ACIAR. It was launched in 2022 to enrich PASS-CR scholars' capacity and funding opportunities, empowering them to integrate climate change research into their Masters and PhD projects. Recently, Leikitah Katah Naituku concluded her Future Thinkers' Awards program and submitted her final report. We are pleased to showcase Leikitah's research, which centres on mitigating climate change by converting kitchen waste into Vermicompost.
Vermicompost, rich in beneficial microbes, is a potent agent for promoting plant growth, reducing plant stress, and potentially suppressing various pests and diseases. Leikitah's research, supported by the Future Thinkers' Award program, was designed to aid small-scale farmers and backyard gardeners in Fiji. Her project involved creating an accessible and user-friendly Vermicompost manual to encourage more people to adopt composting practices and foster sustainability and environmental stewardship within local communities. In addition, the Future Thinkers’ grant allowed Leikitah to include an additional experimental trial, focusing on evaluating the use of Vermicompost to manage soil moisture content and soil pH.
Leikitah's research was improved by a range of research skills she cultivated during her engagement with the program. Notable among these skills were collaboration, effective project coordination, time management, and multitasking. Her collaborations extended across academic institutions, such as the University of the South Pacific and Fiji National University, and gained support from agricultural and mechanical engineering departments. The main collaboration activities were the design and construction of composting bins by agricultural engineering students, who leveraged their expertise in engineering drawing to craft isometric designs and fabricate the bins. Also, Leikitah's vermicompost manual is of interest to the Fijian NGO Teitei Taveuni, signifying its potential for widespread adoption and impact.
Reflecting on the impact of the Future Thinkers' Award on her academic journey, Leikitah commented that she has a newfound appreciation for the significance of composting as a tool for environmental stewardship. She shared that she had been practising composting casually in her backyard, but it was not until the Future Thinkers' Award that she realised its broader potential and was able to conduct laboratory testing on the nutritional quality and properties of the vermicompost she produced.
Through Leikitah's research, which was enhanced by the Future Thinkers' Award, it was possible to explore low-cost ways in which smallholder farmers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the resilience of food production systems, through sustainable pest and crop management techniques. We wish Leikitah the best during the final stage of her PhD program which is expected to be finalised later this year.