Minister for Sugar and Agriculture Tomasi Tunabuna today convened his first formal round of stakeholder consultations aimed at tackling immediate challenges facing Fiji’s sugar industry as the sector prepares for the 2026 harvesting season.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry has scheduled two sessions for industry participants, with the first taking place at the Rarawai Temple in Ba today and a second at the Sugar Cane Growers Council (SCGC) Hall in Lautoka tomorrow. Both meetings run from 11am to 1pm and bring together sugarcane farmers, lorry owners, drivers and representatives from milling companies to discuss operational readiness and sector-wide policy issues.
Key items on the agenda include mill readiness for the upcoming harvest, responses to the ongoing fuel crisis and strategies to blunt its effect on harvesting and transport, and discussions around the forecast and guaranteed price for the 2026 sugar crop. The pricing discussion is expected to be a central focus for farmers seeking clarity on returns ahead of planting and harvesting decisions.
The consultations will open with remarks from Permanent Secretary for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Dr Andrew Tukana, followed by a keynote address from Mr Tunabuna. An open discussion session will be moderated by SCGC chief executive officer Vimal Dutt alongside the Director of Operations for the sugar industry, allowing stakeholders to raise sector-wide concerns and offer recommendations directly to ministry officials.
The ministry has advised that individual farmer grievances raised during the sessions that cannot be resolved on the spot may be referred to relevant agencies and officials for follow-up outside the main consultations. That referral mechanism is intended to ensure that systemic issues receive policy attention while individual cases are tracked through appropriate channels.
These consultations mark Mr Tunabuna’s first substantive engagement with the industry since taking office, signalling the new minister’s early focus on practical arrangements ahead of the season. With the 2026 harvest approaching, stakeholders say timely decisions on mill readiness, transport logistics and price guarantees will be critical to avoid disruptions to cane deliveries and processing.
Ministry officials say the meetings will capture frontline feedback from the supply chain — from farmers and transport operators to mill managers — and feed that input into planning for the next cropping year. The outcome of the two sessions will be watched closely by growers and industry bodies seeking concrete measures to manage fuel-related costs and to secure predictable pricing for next year’s crop.