Fiji’s sugar journey

This case study tells the story of the Market Development Facility (MDF) in Fiji’s journey in the sugar industry, from piloting to scaling up innovative business models, to strengthening the industry’s competitiveness and making it more inclusive. It provides insights on the shifting focus, interventions and partnerships that stimulate systemic change in the Pacific.

The programme aimed to revitalise Fiji's sugar industry by improving agricultural inputs, mechanisation, quality, and marketing to enhance competitiveness, inclusiveness and sustainability.

The paper's structure:

• Overview of the sugar industry in Fiji, particularly before and after.
• MDF involvement. This section also explains the rationale for MDF investment in sugar, presenting a key opportunity for the industry and its potential for inclusive growth.
• Description of the industry, its history and performance, missed opportunities and reasons for underperformance.
• Innovations promoted by MDF in Fiji’s sugar industry. 
• Results achieved through MDF’s interventions.

Intervention description

The MDF in Fiji focused on reinvigorating the sugar industry by promoting innovative business models.

Key interventions included enhancing soil health with agricultural lime, introducing mechanical harvesting to address laboor shortages, and improving quality and marketing to higher-value markets.

MDF partnered with local stakeholders such as the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC), Standard Concrete Industries (SCI), and Charan Jeath Singh (CJS) Group. Activities included distributing ag lime, introducing mechanical harvesters, and conducting market research for premium sugar products.

Farmers adopted these models, resulting in significant behaviour changes, such as increased use of ag lime and mechanical harvesters. For example, the number of households using ag lime increased from 60 in 2013 to 530 in 2017.

This programme’s results measurement system has passed an audit against the DCED Standard.