Food, Produce & Markets

Cassava Fiji Staple

Cassava, Manihot esculenta, is, after rice, the most widely consumed food in Fiji. Tavioka is its local name and it can be seen everywhere in Fiji, growing on the sides of roads and hillsides, indeed it is ubiquitous – evidence of its importance as a household staple.

Cassava, local name tavioka, is planted from cuttings of previously harvested plants or those plants specifically grown for seed. Shorter maturing varieties need to be harvested when ready, while longer maturing varieties have the benefit of being able to be left in the ground and harvested as required, in effect storing themselves for use. Many rural households plant cassava for their own consumption as well as for a cash crop which they sell in markets or at roadside stalls. The only real risk to the crop is if the ground gets waterlogged when the tubers may rot. This often means, in times of heavy rain, that crops are harvested to save them, creating an immediate oversupply and then a shortage until the next crop arrives. The answer is to select planting sites with good drainage. Hence the popular location of plants, as seen in this picture, in raised beds on the side of roads, often next to other crops such as sugarcane which is growing in the background.

Roadside stalls and downtown market places are where to go to buy it. A tour of Nadi market, especially on its busiest day, Saturday, reveals women piling it up in small heaps for sale. Five- and ten-dollar amounts are popular. That is the way most fresh things are sold in markets here, in heaps or piles rather than by weight.

Fiji is not alone in recognizing cassava’s benefits; worldwide hundreds of millions of people depend upon it. It is thought to have been originally domesticated in Brazil around 10,000 years ago and its importance as a food crop has ensured its successful migration to much of the tropical and subtropical areas of the world. It usually takes around a year after planting for tavioka to be ready for harvest, although some faster maturing types are ready from six months.

The cultivation of taviokais a first choice in Fiji because the plant is hardy and produces a lot of food per plant. It is tolerant of poor soil and very dry conditions, whereas the more highly regarded root crop, dalo or taro, is harder to cultivate, produces less food per plant and demands rich soil and adequate water.

While there are other culinary uses, the usual method of cooking tavioka is by boiling in water. When cooked it is soft and has a delicate flavour much like the potato, and like the potato it is used as an accompaniment for meat and fish dishes, soups, stews and after boiling and drying and cooling for frying into chips.

For Fiji’s farmers it is not only an essential crop domestically, it is also an established export crop with a promising future. Apart from eating tavioka as it is, it can also, very usefully, be made into flour. It may be used as a feedstock for making ethanol and the leaves are popular as animal food.

Look for some cassava chips at your Resort, ask for them. It is a simple culinary adventure to try some fresh fish and cassava chips. Alternatively fried cassava with a salsa is decidedly delicious! And one hundred percent locally grown.

*The place to buy cassava is at local markets…*

Tavioka is most often boiled as an accompaniment to just about anything. A favourite alternative is to fry the cassava after boiling. You can try some for yourself during your stay. Most if not all of the resorts on Denarau offer cassava chips, if yours doesn’t tell them they should and to get some for you! Fresh fish and cassava chips is one obvious choice, perhaps with a salsa. Check out your options.

Epeli ‘pulls’ a cassava plant to harvest its root crop. The small plants growing around him are new plantings. The larger plants in the background are of various ages. New cuttings are planted at regular intervals to ensure a constant food supply. And to that end, once Epeli has harvested the plant he will cut the stem into pieces and replant them immediately.

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