Local Markets

The origins of local markets as we understand them today in Fiji can most probably be traced back to ‘Fair Days’ hosted by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company at the sites of its sugar mills. On these days the company would assist vendors to display the latest technological farming aids and farmers would bring to town a variety of homegrown produce for barter and trade. Those days reflected a time when households and villages were 99% self-sufficient. From those humble beginnings Local Markets today are centrepieces of Fijian Society. They are places that everyone frequents. And places where pretty much everything is available- from a cup of tea and a cream bun to a goat or chicken and raw tobacco.

Thinking of local market places conjures up images of fresh produce, fun, frivolity, colours, smells, different livelihoods and hustle and bustle – all on Fiji time! Every town has a local market, some more than one. Early Saturday morning is always the best time to visit. The range of choice is the biggest and the freshest it will ever be.

Local markets are indeed great examples of Fiji at work. Farmers bring their crops of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, such as: Chinese and English cabbage, cucumber, French and long beans, eggplants, coriander, mint, lemons, limes, and mandarins, carrots, capsicum; ginger; fresh and pounded spices such as turmeric and tamarind, and various types of chillies, along with curry masala mixes, the recipes for which have often been handed down through generations.

Lettuce, spring onion, okra, eggplant, seafood, bananas, vudi, a plantain, live chickens and goats, honey, homemade ghee, yaqona, pumpkin, cassava, coconuts, dalo and its leaves called roro and seasonal sweet corn are some of the many different items on offer. 

Knick knacks, seeds, seedlings, freshly made savouries and sweets, bags, string, local raw tobacco, watermelon, pineapple; glasses of freshly squeezed pineapple and fruit juices, cups of tea with cream buns; restaurants and groups of men sitting around basins of yaqonacatching up on the daily news are some of the sights on display. Indeed local markets offer a unique perspective on Fijian life and its people as they go about their daily business.

Trade of course is as old as human relationships themselves and in days of old the people of Fiji had some fairly well defined trading arrangements. For example some areas were, and for that matter still are, more plentiful in dalo and other root crops such as yams and sweet potatoes and they were used in exchange for salt and other items produced in other areas. Some districts became famous for certain types of pottery or weapons, some for their masi, or tapa, cloth and so inter-district trade and trade between island groups occurred. Tongan people would for instance come to barter for sandalwood to scent the coconut oil with which they anointed their bodies, and for wood for canoes.

In the days of the early British Colonial administration there were no formal ‘market places’. The iTaukei were supposed to remain in their koros, or villages, unless specifically released by their turaga, or chief. The purpose was to ensure that sufficient manpower was retained in the villages to complete the communal activities and responsibilities of the people living there.

For example Fiji used to be self sufficient in rice. Some families still are to some extent. You can read about an example of this in ‘Like their Parents did.’

Rice would be grown for home use and also sold. It was and is made into flour from which roti are made and if the customer did not have a means of grinding the rice flour at home there were machines available at the market to do so and so not only rice but also rice flour was sold. Also popular was grinding corn into flour to make roti and although these days wheat flour is preferred some still enjoy corn as well as wheat flour when making their roti.

Sugar, kerosene and candles, seemingly such essentials of daily life could and still can be substituted at home. Honey, sweetness from sugarcane, and lamps using ghee or made by burning, appropriately named, candlenuts in coconut shells are alternatives. But markets opened up the possibility of each family utilizing their own competitive advantage, be it due to climate, location or skill and so enter into more profitable trade relations and improving their standard of living.

Gradually as Fiji has developed and urbanized the market economy has grown. Marketplaces have increased in size and number and have become a permanent feature in most towns and cities. Around the 1950s local bodies assumed responsibility for hosting and administering local markets. Many, if not most, now provide some form of overnight accommodation and amenities for people from remote areas. Improved communications and infrastructure makes travel from the hinterlands more feasible and encourages more and more Fijians to participate in the market economy.

Fiji is a small island economy that depends much on imports.  In the past it has done so rather more than is perhaps strictly necessary partly in response to the huge contribution growing sugar made to the economy. Sugar’s contribution has since declined due to a multitude of factors. However because of Fiji’s wide-ranging topography it is possible to grow almost anything here all year round and increasingly alternative crops are being sown, harvested and sold, both at home and for export and for use in the kitchens of Fiji’s growing tourism industry.

One of the imperatives for Fiji has been to encourage advancement and diversification of the agricultural sector of the economy. Governments are providing strong technical, financial and infrastructural development. Skill transfer, technological improvements and increased ease of access to markets have all been facilitated.  It is no secret that the benefits to an economy of a strong and vibrant agricultural base can be immense, not to mention the importance of establishing food security for the nation.

It is one sign of Fiji’s continuing development and growth and adjustment and has opened new avenues for elders to pass on the benefits of their agricultural skills to a new generation of business-orientated people who can see opportunities in the land that did not previously exist or occur to them.  It is reflected today in how much fresh local produce makes its way into hotels, restaurants, resorts, export markets and onto local dinner tables. A visit to a local market makes for an interesting half day out; Nadi market is closest and good. But Lautoka market is only half an hour away and is much bigger and more diverse. You can check out all the produce on offer, not to mention how many more faces and dresses of Fiji you will see when you visit a local market! Saturdays are market day and the best day to visit especially in the morning. 

When you visit – don’t forget the ‘bean carts’. These are the snack carts found at every market. Pro tip: try the ‘beans’ – which are actually peas – so popular that the entire industry of snack carts are named after them! There are two versions on offer, normal and hot or ‘chilli beans.’ If you try the chilli beans don’t forget to wash, or wipe your hands afterwards in case you touch your eyes. Not keen on the ‘beans’ or in addition to them try some mixed bhuja. And for a sweet you can’t go past the barfi, it is a milk based sweet and comes in a multitude of colours but yellow is considered the standard.