Cooperatives seen as key to community wealth in Fiji

Cooperatives are emerging as a key driver of inclusive growth in Fiji, with the potential to protect natural resources while returning wealth directly to communities.

This was highlighted by the Ministry of Finance, Commerce and Business Development’s Department of Cooperative Business (DCB) director registrar, Iosefo Koroidimuri, during the Regional Dialogue on Cooperatives as Drivers of the Blue-Green Economy at Tokatoka Resort in Nadi yesterday.

Mr Koroidimuri said cooperatives were helping translate national policy into real benefits at the grassroots level.

“Most of our cooperatives are agriculture-based, but we are now seeing new blue-green initiatives that channel funding directly into villages,” he said.

He pointed to carbon trading projects in the Northern Division, where forest areas are being protected under cooperative structures.

“We are working with about six cooperatives. The funding reaches landowners directly while preserving forests for future generations,” he said.

Community-based tourism was identified as a major opportunity to address poverty and revenue leakage in Fiji’s tourism industry.

Mr Koroidimuri said close to 80 per cent of tourism revenue leaked offshore, leaving limited benefits for local communities.

“If we can redirect just five per cent of tourism GDP directly into communities, you are talking about close to 100 per cent local benefit,” he said.

“That’s how you address poverty, employment and social challenges.”

He cited successful models such as the Lavena Coastal Walk Cooperative in Taveuni, where more than 2,000 acres of customary land have been preserved for over two decades.

“Tourists walk from the village to waterfalls that remain untouched. It’s conservation and income combined,” he said.

Other examples include the Bouma National Heritage Park in Taveuni and the Lautoka Fishermen’s Cooperative, which aims to help fishers move beyond selling to middlemen and into processing and export markets.

Mr Koroidimuri said reviving Fiji’s cooperative movement would depend on policy reform, updated legislation, digital databases, capacity building and stronger youth engagement.

“Our vision is clear: using technology, education and cooperatives, we can link communities directly to markets and secure Fiji’s blue-green future,” he said.