Rising fuel costs threaten to deepen food insecurity in Fiji’s rural communities unless households and villages shore up local food supplies, the acting chief executive of the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development (FRIEND) has warned.
Viloki Gohil said increases in fuel prices will drive up transportation costs and hit remote settlements hardest because many rely on boats and trucks to reach markets and collect essential supplies. “This is definitely going to affect everything now, especially transport costs because of how remote our communities are,” she told this newspaper, stressing that the cost and availability of transport are central to rural food access.
Gohil highlighted an acute vulnerability during natural disasters and other crises that interrupt supply lines. “In a flood situation, when there is no access to town, everything is cut off. That is when food security becomes critical,” she said. With higher fuel bills, routine resupply of staples becomes more expensive and less reliable, she added, increasing the risk that households will face shortages or be forced to buy costlier food from stores.
As the latest response, FRIEND is stepping up community-level measures aimed at reducing dependence on store-bought food. Gohil urged families to take up backyard gardening and communal farming, recommending the cultivation of vegetables and root crops that can provide a buffer against price shocks. “We are encouraging families to plant their own vegetables and root crops so they are not fully dependent on store-bought food,” she said.
FRIEND is also expanding training in food processing and preservation techniques so produce can be stored and used during emergencies. Gohil said the organisation teaches methods that do not rely on chemical preservatives, enabling households to extend the shelf life of home-grown crops and maintain access to nutritious food when transport links are disrupted by high fuel costs or extreme weather events. These measures are presented as both resilience-building and practical risk mitigation for isolated communities.
The warning comes against a backdrop of broader concern about global supply pressures and local price transmission. The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission has previously cautioned that Fiji—an importer of all its fuel, accounting for roughly 16 percent of the country’s total imports—could see domestic fuel and food prices rise if international tensions push up oil markets. The commission has noted a typical one-month lag between world price changes and local fuel adjustments, a dynamic that can quickly ripple into higher transport and food costs.
Transport disruptions have already been visible in certain sectors: airlines and other carriers have had to impose operational limits or contingency measures when fuel supply or cost constraints affect routes. Gohil said the combination of inflated transport costs and weather-related isolation makes community-level food production and preservation not just beneficial but essential for many rural households.
FRIEND’s message is a practical one: build local food stocks now and strengthen communal systems to weather both price volatility and disaster-related interruptions. Gohil stressed that such localised action can reduce households’ exposure to market shocks and help ensure continued access to nutritious food when broader supply chains falter.
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