8.2 per cent contribution to GDP

Agriculture Ministry permanent secretary Andrew Tukana says non-sugarcane agriculture contributed 8.2 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2021.

Mr Tukana told an agriculture discussion forum in Suva yesterday farming was vital to Fiji’s economy.

“Farming provides food security, income and employment,” he said.

“It supplies food to the tourism industry, inputs for food processing and makes a significant contribution to exports.

“Indirectly, as much as 84 per cent of the rural population is involved in agriculture and or fisheries, even if farming is not their main occupation.”

Mr Tukana said the Fiji Agriculture Census in 2020 recorded a total of 70,991 agricultural households with a population of 300,681 (35 per cent of the total population).

“At the same time, the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) report 2019/2020 indicated as many as 40 per cent of households engaged in subsistence farming.

“And 23 per cent of those engaged as agricultural wage earners were considered poor.”