the failure of agricultural policymaking in fiji

Emeritus Professor, crawford School of Economics and Government, the australian national University, Adjunct Professor, University of the South Pacific; a businessman and former farmer based in Suva, fijiPacific Economic Bulletin Volume 24 number 2 July 2009 © the australian national universityThe agricultural sector in Fiji is seen in many quarters—including by the Reserve Bank of Fiji—as potentially a key driver of needed increases in export earnings and import substitution to reverse the continuing increase in the trade deficit. Despite the many pleas for better performance from the farming sector, it has performed poorly for a long period. Because Fiji is well endowed with agricultural land and rural workers, its agriculture sector should be a key part of the Fijian economy in terms of providing subsistence in rural areas and helping ensure food security for the society as a whole, as well as contributing to export earnings and foreign exchange.Why is the agricultural sector not per-forming better? Why is the sector finding it difficult to increase exports and to produce commodities that will substitute for the large volume of imported agricultural products consumed domestically, including by tourists?Externally, the quarantine restrictions of countries that are potential export markets for Fiji’s agricultural output are a constraint on exports. Considerable effort—scientific and diplomatic—is needed to break down these barriers. So far, Fiji has overcome these barriers to only a very limited extent. As well as sugar, which is not discussed here, dalo, kava, ginger and cassava have been the main crops exported; although horticultural prod-ucts (particularly pawpaw and vegetables, including chillies) are the fastest growing component of agricultural exports. While dalo production and exports appear to be increasing, production and exports of kava and ginger have declined. In the case of kava, the decline is due to bans on imports of kava by the major industrial-country markets. In the case of ginger, production is declining because the main producers are leaving the industry and attempts to have other farmers take on ginger production have not been very successful. Pawpaw production and exports have responded well to the relaxation of quarantine restrictions.On the domestic front, the absence of secure individualised tenure to land and the resulting difficulty of accessing credit without such secure collateral are well-known obstacles to the expansion of agriculture. Political instability and law and order problems, particularly on-farm theft, also pose significant constraints to investment in agriculture. The running down of agricultural research and extension over many years has also had adverse impacts on the introduction of new and improved crop and livestock products and farming systems.