Cushioning the economic impacts of COVID-19 in Fiji

Above: Residents in Ketesa tending their communal agricultural plot, supported by AHP and CAN DO. Photo: CAN DO Fiji

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, business had been thriving for a small woodcarving community outside Suva, Fiji.

This community in Naulu, known as Ketesa, has been a major supplier of woodwork products and art to Fiji’s hotels and retail stores, but all this changed when COVID-19 hit Fiji’s shores in April 2020, shutting down international tourism.

Woodcarving arts have traditionally been the community’s source of livelihood since they left Fulaga Island in the Lau group many years ago in search of better education opportunities for their children.

Living with little hope for the future and struggling to make ends meet for their families, support from the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) through the Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations (CAN DO) has provided new ways forward.

The AHP Fiji COVID-19 Response focuses on livelihood diversification, with activities targeting community resilience; gender and disability inclusion; child protection; and appropriate investment in the local Fiji Disabled Peoples Federation, in line with activities occurring through the AHP Disaster READY program.

Through CAN DO partner the Methodist Church of Fiji the Ketesa community was supported with agricultural kits, seedlings, agriculture training, financial literacy training and cash assistance to assist in rebuilding their lives, resilience, and independence. The community also received financial support for logistics and administration work, as well as for hire of farming equipment to prepare their land.

Above: Agriculture is now supporting food security and livelihoods for the Ketesa community. Photo: CAN DO Fiji

“We are thankful to the assistance provided by AHP through CAN DO that has given us hope and allowed us rebuild our lives,” Setareki Kotoisuvavou of Ketesa Methodist Church said.

With over 90 residents, the people of Ketesa were able to secure and utilise an idle piece of land in the area after consultation with the Fijian Government. This land is now being used for agricultural purposes, to support livelihoods.

“From that reserve land, we have planted dalo, cassava and vegetables of all sorts. We have been able to put food on the table. We have our individual farms and we have also worked on a main farm dedicated solely to the church,” Mr Kotoisuvavou said.

“The vegetable seeds that we were provided with really helped us a lot in the early stages as harvests from the farm helped food security while we were able to sell the excess.”

This community was able to set up their own market to sell their vegetables for income, also subsidising it for their church.

“It has always been a collaboration for us. We work as a community in this project whereby women and children tend to the vegetable farm, ensuring crops are watered daily, while men from our community dedicate two days a week to work on the farm,” Mr Kotoisuvavou said.

“We have come a long way since we started. We were able to buy the necessary equipment and organic fertilizer to help us cultivate the land and we also purchased our dalo tops to extend our farm,” he added.

Above: The community is working together to grow food for their meals, and for sale at market. Photo: CAN DO Fiji

“We are able to sustain our livelihoods through this project which has really supported food security for these affected households.”

“When the second outbreak hit Fiji this year, we didn’t feel much, as we already had our farm to fall back on.”

“Again our sincere gratitude to AHP and CAN DO for their support at a time we needed it the most,” he added.

Women of Ketesa were also assisted with value-adding items such as sewing machines that they can use for sustainable livelihoods. AHP also provided the community with necessary training to help them manage their farms or project sites.

The CAN DO consortium is one of the six consortiums under the AHP in Fiji, led by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). CAN DO has nine member organisations and has 10 project sites located in Naitasiri, Lautoka, Nadi, Lami, Suva and Nausori.