Fiji island turns to biofuels to stem farmer exodus

In Fiji, the rates of unemployment and migration towards the mainland are increasing due to low trade levels between Fiji and the neighboring island country of Tuvalu.

The island’s workforce is comprised mainly of self-employed farmers and civil servants and migration has left only 1900 people on Fiji’s most remote northern island of Rotuma.

According to the Fiji government, biofuel and trade with Tuvalu are the only commodities on Rotuma, and may not be enough to keep the farmers from moving to the mainland to seek employment. The government is exploring the prospects of extending trade services to neighboring islands around Tuvalu and seeking additional investment in agriculture, including biofuels.