Island Economies
Fiji: Sugar, Tourism and the Indo-Fijians
How Fiji's economy depends on tourism and sugar, the role of Indo-Fijians descended from indentured workers, and how land leases and coups affected the economy.
Fiji is a Pacific island nation of around 900,000 people.
Economy
- Tourism: the largest industry.
- Sugar: historically central, now declining.
- Remittances and Fiji Water exports.
Indo-Fijians
- Indentured labourers from India came from 1879 to work on sugar plantations.
- Indo-Fijians became a large share of the population and dominated sugar farming and business.
Land leases
- Most land is owned communally by indigenous iTaukei Fijians.
- Indo-Fijian farmers leased land; when leases expired from the late 1990s, many lost farms, hurting sugar production.
Coups
Coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006 damaged investment and led many Indo-Fijians to emigrate.
Economic lesson
Land tenure and political stability strongly affect investment.
The expired lease
An Indo-Fijian family that farmed sugarcane for generations loses its land when the lease isn't renewed, and moves to the city.
Thinking Fiji's economy is only tourism
Sugar, remittances and water exports matter too.
Key takeaways
- Tourism is Fiji's largest industry.
- Indo-Fijians descend from indentured workers.
- Expiring land leases hurt sugar farming.
- Coups damaged investment.
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