The Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Ocean Resources has opened the opportunity for islands across the Maldives to sell locally produced agricultural products at the Farmers' Market during Ramadan next year.
The opportunity is open to all islands, allowing interested parties to sell produce grown by farmers in their respective islands at the market in Malé.
The Ministry established the Farmers' Market this year to provide farmers from the islands with an avenue to sell their produce in the Malé area. The market currently operates at the former café premises in Harbour. It caters to people travelling to Malé to sell food products grown or produced for Ramadan.
Islands well known for agricultural production sold their products at the market during Ramadan this year. In view of the response this year, the Ministry has now opened the opportunity for interested islands to sell their products at the market during Ramadan next year.
The Ministry has notified all island councils of the opportunity and asked interested parties to register their interest through their respective councils. The venue for next Ramadan's market will be selected based on the islands that register to participate.
This year, the market also sold produce from 10 farms certified under the Maldives Good Agricultural Practices (MGAP) standard.
Under the Ministry's guidelines for operating temporary markets, vendors at the Farmers' Market may only sell raw fruit and vegetables produced on islands across the Maldives. The guidelines prohibit the sale of other products at the market and do not allow foreigners to conduct activities there.
Every Ramadan, large quantities of agricultural produce grown in the atolls are brought to Malé for sale.