The sugar industry has shaped the development of Fiji’s economy for over a century; although tourism has become a dominant force in the last 15 years.
Abstract
The sugar industry has shaped the development of Fiji’s economy for over a century; although tourism has become a dominant force in the last 15 years. Despite facing ongoing problems, he sugar industry continues to provide the livelihood for over 20% of Fiji’s population. Over the past 15 years, sugarcane production has been on a declining trend. The reduction in hectares under cultivation and lower yield has contributed Fiji’s production to fall below 2.0 million tonnes recently when compared to around 4.0 million tonnes over 15 years ago. The decline in production is driven by a combination of controllable factors, particularly financial, non-financial and social & demographic factors. Using the quantitative approach, a detailed questionnaire was designed and over 300 farmers from the Lomawai Sector (Sigatoka) were interviewed from August to December, 2016. The quantitative data gathered were used to develop a simplified total factor productivity and profitability framework. This was later used to test a wide range of hypotheses based on a number of controllable factors. The dominant factors affecting decline in production were lower profitability (driven by price), higher production cost/tonne, lower productivity (output per hectare), increased income from nonsugarcane activities (includes diversification and off-farm), sub-optimal application of fertilizer (driven by high cost), level of subsidy benefits, problems with sugar mills (frequent breakdown), shortage of labour (driven by change in family structure and desire for higher education) and farmers changing attitude towards sugarcane farming and industry (farm property used as a security for residential housing and not necessarily production). The results of the findings suggest changes need to be made to existing policies, the need to use a bottomup approach in decision making (greater involvement of farmers) and increased ownership of the production sector by Fiji Sugar Corporation Limited (FSC) to help improve output in future.