SUGAR, according to some reports, was first produced in Fiji on Wakaya Island in 1862 by a David Whippy.
This is an industry that is not for the faint of heart.
In the early days of the industry (1871), Ratu Cakobau offered a £500 sterling incentive to cane farmers for “the first and best” crop of 20 tonnes of sugar produced from locally grown cane.
When Fiji was ceded to Great Britain in 1874, the country’s first governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, was faced with the challenge of turning the industry into an income source to fund his administration. What unveiled thereafter is now all part of our history!
Fiji’s history cannot be told without giving reference to the sugar industry. Farmers and administrators alike continue to persevere in the hope of bringing back the golden years of sugarcane farming.
One such farmer has travelled across the sea from Western Samoa to toil the hard Babasiga soil of Seaqaqa. She is Teropika Filemu Prasad, a Samoan woman married into a Fijian cane farming family of Indian descent.
“I met my husband in 1985 when he came over to study in the school of agriculture in Samoa. We got married and moved to Fiji after he graduated,” Teropika said. “The new way of life was a huge adjustment and it took a long while for me to settle.
“In Samoa, it is customary for the men to bear the full burden of farming, here it’s different. I was taught how manage my own vegetable farm. I learnt that we truly live off what we planted, a far cry from the more carefree island lifestyle.”
Three children and a grandchild later, Teropika is now a full-time sugarcane farmer looking after her own 11 acres of cane, 22 sheep, 20 cows, 12 goats and numerous chickens. This hive of industrious activity is focused on and spreads out from a 38-acre parcel of land she independently leased in her own name.
“When I came over, I never dreamed that I would be working like this but I have come to enjoy the hard work and the benefits that come with it. I wake up early in the morning do my chores, prepare breakfast before seeing my husband off to work and then I attend to the farm.
“Running a business is not new to me because we had two shops in Samoa when I was growing up.”
With the assistance of her husband, a former bank officer who has vast experience when it comes to sugarcane farming, Teropika approached the Fiji Development Bank in January 2010 for a $10,000 to help with the development costs for her farm, this also included the cost of building a farm house.
In July the same year, Teropika approached the bank again for another $5000 to convert their farm house into a permanent dwelling. Further in October 2012, she approached the bank a third time to finance the purchase of a Massey Ferguson tractor. Her most recent loan was in November 2014 where she borrowed $2000 to buy tyres for her tractor.
“In my 20 years of experience as a farmer, my greatest learning has been that money is an essential part of farming. You can have the entire infrastructure needed to operate a farm or a business but you cannot move this if you do not have the required working capital. That is why we have maintained our relationship with the Fiji Development Bank because they can provide us with whatever financial assistance we need on the farm.”
“With FDB, we have been able to expand the farm, build a home and raise our children. Most importantly, it’s our children who have all grown up and benefitted from this farm.
“My eldest son is a policeman in Seaqaqa and my second son is a mechanic. My daughter is a third-year nursing student at the Fiji National University. So looking back, I have no regrets with my choices in life and I continue to work hard to look after our farm.”
Her slender build and calloused hands are testament to the hard work she has put in on her farm and for her family through the years. Yet her glowing Samoan smile is almost reassurance that for the sugar industry and Fiji, the best is yet to come.
* Lote Raboila is the FDB’s media and community relations officer.
