A community co-operative in Fiji's Navosa highlands is creating new market opportunities for local yaqona farmers by purchasing, processing and marketing the crop within the district, reducing transport costs and increasing returns for growers.
The Matababani Co-operative Ltd recently purchased FJD49,000 worth of fresh yaqona from farmers in the villages of Nakoro, Navitilevu and Lalati. The crop will be dried, processed and packaged locally before being supplied to larger markets, allowing more value to be retained within the community.
The initiative is expected to strengthen the local economy while providing farmers with a more reliable and accessible outlet for their produce.
Originally registered in June 2022 to manage a community solar power project launched two years earlier, the co-operative has steadily expanded its activities and now has 20 active financial members.
Recognising that yaqona is the principal source of income for many households in the district, the co-operative diversified into commercial yaqona processing in 2024 with support from the Integrated Human Resource Development Programme (IHRDP). The programme funded an electric yaqona pounding machine and the construction of a new pack house, enabling the co-operative to undertake value-added processing locally.
The expansion is helping address a long-standing challenge faced by growers in the remote highlands.
Previously, farmers travelled about 73 kilometres to Sigatoka to sell their yaqona, incurring one-way transport costs of between FJD25 and FJD30 while facing uncertainty over finding buyers.
By purchasing yaqona directly within the Noikoro district, the co-operative has shortened the supply chain, lowered marketing costs and established a dependable local market for producers.
The improved market access is expected to encourage greater yaqona production while increasing household incomes and retaining more economic activity within rural communities.
Fiji's Department of Cooperative Business said it will continue supporting the Matababani Co-operative through training in governance, financial management, bookkeeping and regulatory compliance to strengthen the organisation's long-term sustainability and expand economic opportunities in the Navosa highlands.
