Food poverty in Fiji is rare in national terms but still prevalent in some areas, states the revised Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2019-2020 report released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics.
An initial report released in August 2021 stated Fiji had a poverty rate of 29.9 per cent that was later revised to 24.1 per cent by the World Bank.
Food poverty measures the cost of buying a balanced diet that provides 2228 calories per adult equivalent (AE) per day.
If a Fijian adult had less than $25.68 in his or her pocket per week, they were considered to be living under food poverty.
“The food poverty estimates based on the food poverty line of $1335.36 per adult equivalent per year (FJD 25.68 per AE per week).
“The prevalence of food poverty was much higher in rural areas (11.1 per cent) than in urban areas (2.6 per cent).”
The revised report states food poverty was more prevalent in the Eastern Division (13.7 per cent) than elsewhere.
