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Sweet and sour: Fiji's sugar addiction
- B.M. Allsopp
- Jul 15
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 15
Sugar is a perennial hot topic in Fiji's parliamentary budget debates, which dominate the Fiji media at the moment. The issue of government financial support for the sugar industry is argued about every year but nothing much changes in the discussion, nor in the sugar cane plantations and the lives of the farmers. Fiji's sugar story is complex, with both sweet and sour elements.
Pleas from Fiji's sugar farmers
In 2026, with the sharp increase in fuel prices driven by the conflict in the Strait of Homuz, the pleas for help of desperate cane farmers have been heard, with the government subsidising fuel costs until August.
The Fiji Sun reported yesterday that Lomawai farmer Asab Hussain Shah said growers wanted to harvest their cane this year but may have to leave it in the fields because they could not absorb escalating costs, such as payment for labour, equipment and transport. Mr Shah urged the Sugar Industry Special Committee to extend the $2-a-litre fuel subsidy beyond the end of July until the end of the crushing season.
The increasing cost of production isn't the only problem for sugar farmers. Uncontrolled feral animals are more than pests. Mr Shah said crop damage caused by horses and wild pigs in his district is worse than the devastation of 2016 caused by Cyclone Winston, the most destructive cyclone ever to hit Fiji. (Fiji Sun, 14th July 2026)
Sugar's economic value to Fiji
Unfortunately, the sugar farmers' pleas are not just for a temporary fix at a time of unusually high fuel prices. Fiji's sugar industry has been declining for decades, propped up by both international and national subsidies in the form of price guarantees, preferential export markets, direct grants and discounts or exemptions from taxes and charges other industries must pay. Sugar's direct economic value has shrunk from around 4% to roughly 1.2% of GDP and 4.3% of total exports, now playing a much smaller financial role than tourism or emerging niche exports like kava and taro.
Sugar's social value to Fiji
Today, sugar is a vital social and rural lifeline supporting thousands of farming families. The sector involves about 25% of the national labour force directly or indirectly. This is why sugar remains politically and economically sensitive. The government continues to support the industry to prevent widespread rural poverty, with the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) receiving substantial state guarantees. Furthermore, declines in sugar production ripple through the economy, negatively impacting related sectors like transport, machinery, and South Pacific Distilleries, which relies on sugar by-products.
Fiji's local sugar consumption
In 2018, Fiji's four mills produced 1.7 million tonnes of raw sugar for bulk export. Sensibly, sufficient quantity to meet Fiji's own demand was bagged for local sale. Raw sugar is very cheap in Fiji, but if resorts, restaurants or the home cook need icing sugar, brown sugar or cubes, they must pay three times as much for sugar imported from Australia.
Origins of Fiji's sugar industry
Sugar cane was possibly brought to Fiji by the mysterious Lapita people, who first settled the islands three thousand years ago, then moved on. Foreign visitors in the early 19th century observed Fijians chewing the cane and using the juice as a sweetener. In 1871 Ratu Cakobau, the paramount chief, was seeking a profitable industry for Fiji following the failure of cotton crops. He offered a prize of £500 to the first person who could produce 20 tons of sugar. The first sugar mill was built the following year and Fiji has been dependent on this sticky business ever since. Indeed, sugar cane is emblazoned on the Fiji Arms along with coconut and banana plants.
The Sweet
Sugar supports around a quarter of Fiji's population, either directly or indirectly.
Sugar remains a significant, if declining, food export
Government-owned Fiji Sugar Corporation handles sugar processing, shipping and marketing.
Substantial aid from UK, EU and the Fiji government has supported the industry through training, technical improvements and most importantly, price subsidies.
The Sour
Fiji is a speck in the middle of the Pacific, too far away from export markets.
Small hilly farms and poor transport keep the cost of production high.
Ageing mills need updating to improve efficiency.
Most sugar cane farmers are Indo-Fijian, dependent on the renewal of their leases from Fijian landowners. This lack of land security reduces farmers' willingness to invest in improvements.
The European Union's price support agreement has expired.
Dependence on aid threatens the industry's sustainability.
Sweet or sour?
Although the sour taste seems to overwhelm the sweet, it is impossible to imagine the landscape of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu without cane farms. Fiji's prime minister, Frank Bainimarama has said, "Our sugar industry will always remain at the heart of the Fijian economy." (30 March 2018, RNZ) One wonders how long Fiji's heart can maintain a healthy beat with the stresses from sugar increasing.
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