Fiji’s Traditional Lands

An intriguing land of 300 islands, Fiji is brimming with history and tradition and is a wondrous place to explore. Travel journalist, Ian Cross, takes to the road for a series of short reports on people, places and events across the globe – The Grassroots Tour…

Indigenous Fijians have traditional ownership rights over 80 per cent of land in Fiji.

In a land of 300 islands but a population of less than a million people, traditional land ownership has meant large parts of the country remain undeveloped. Fijian villagers live in a communal style – no fences or walls separating houses; in extended family groups and hereditary chiefs allocate land to each family for farming.

A wide variety of tropical fruits and vegetables, like papaya, are grown on these family run plots, and the produce is often sold to passersby from roadside stalls or at town markets.

Indigenous Fijians have sold off land on long term leases to Indo Fijian sugar cane farmers who run it commercially, or to tourism developers constructing hotel resorts on the country’s many coastlines catering to a growing tourist trade.