Q&A With Consumer Watchdog Boss

­The following is a Question and Answer special feature with the Consumer Coun­cil of Fiji chief executive officer Seema Shandil.

It is based on the how consumers can cope with the current world food and fuel prices largely driven by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

• What are the causes of the rise in food and fuel prices?

According to the world Food Price Index re­cently published by the FAO, the World food commodity prices made a significant leap in March to reach their highest lev­els ever, as war in the Black Sea region spread shocks through markets for staple grains and vegetable oils.

The FAO Food Price Index aver­aged 159.3 points in March, up 12.6 percent from February when it had already reached its high­est level since its inception in 1990. The Index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of common­ly-traded food commodities.

The latest level of the in­dex for 2022 was 33.6 percent higher than in March 2021. This 33.6 per cent in addition to other factors affecting food prices that have been directly passed down to economies such as ours.

This, over 30 per cent in­crease in international food prices coupled with the increased freight cost is directly being felt by our Fijian consumers. This is the reason why we are seeing such a drastic in­crease in our food prices.

The same applies to the fuel prices. As we are depending on other countries producing fuel and the fact that the international fuel prices have been steadily increasing over the past few months – the prices are being directly reflected locally.

• When should people expect for the prices of food and fuel prices to decrease?

This is dependent on international market as well as other factors such as the current ongoing war in Ukraine.

• What action does the government need to take in order to control the prices of fuel and food?

Firstly, the rise in cost of food items is because of factors which are out of our control – hence we must stop the blame game and try to come up with ways as responsible consumers to mitigate the high costs.

Consumers can take some proactive steps in or­der to cushion themselves to some level from the rising food and fuel prices.

For instance, the constant lockdowns and re­strictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic last year reminded us the importance of eating healthy and staying active. As a result, many took up backyard gardening.

However, as things begun to normalize, we seem to have forgotten about the importance of back­yard gardening again.

Backyard gardening is one of the most ideal ways to cope with the rising food prices.

By doing backyard gardening you will:

• Save hundreds of dollars each year which would otherwise be spent on buying vegetables, processed food and takeaways;
• Stay healthy as it involves vigorous physical activity;
• Earn a few extra bucks by selling the excess that you may have; and
• Get fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables daily which are free of chemicals.

So why not adopt such practices again?

We have also heard people saying they do not have enough space for a backyard garden how­ever, we have also seen people coming up with creative ideas such as planting in bottles to get at least some fresh produce.

Consider car-sharing

Carpooling is a great way to get where you need to go while saving fuel and money. Consumers can ask their co-workers and friends if they’d like to carpool whenever possible. Members of a carpool can share expenses, making it more af­fordable for everyone, not to mention the added benefit of having company on your drive. Car­pooling is a win-win situation for everyone in­volved, including the environment.

Think about alternative means of transportation

Cars have become one of the most conveni­ent means of transportation, but they certainly aren’t the only way to get around town. Instead of driving, think about alternative means of travel, like public transport methods, walking or cycling.

If you can combine transportation and exercise, biking or walking can be excellent options for getting from A to B while promoting a healthy lifestyle.

• Next week is the budget announcement, what is your expectation in the 2022-2023 na­tional budget announcement?

The council is expecting a budget that will bring good news to all Fijian consumers - and lead to the increase of the purchasing power of consum­ers.

This will not only provide the much-needed buffer to consumers from the rising food/fuel prices but will also further stimulate economic activity. Government had announced some very good initiatives in the 2021-2022 national budget and the revised budget as well. We are hoping for the continuation of such initiatives going into the new financial year.