Cash is a scarce commodity for the tens of thousands of people in Fiji who have lost their jobs in tourism.
Key points:
- 165,000 people have now joined a Facebook group called “Barter for Better Fiji”
- Bartering is deeply rooted in Fiji and Pacific island cultures
- Fiji has had 18 confirmed cases, of which three are still deemed active
So they’re returning to an ancient bartering system, where pigs have been swapped for roofing iron, baked goods for children’s toys and other services for tutoring of children unable to attend to school because of COVID-19 restrictions.
It’s estimated as many as 100,000 people have been left unemployed after the Fiji Government shut its borders in March: that equates to about one in every nine people in the Pacific island nation.
Most job losses have been in the tourism sector, which provides about 40 per cent of Fiji’s GDP, but Vasemaca Bailuma found herself without work, after she was let go from her job at a government-owned factory.
With her husband in prison she was struggling to find a way to support herself and her son without a reliable source of income and couldn’t afford to finish building her house.
So Ms Bailuma became one of 165,000 people who have now joined a Facebook group called “Barter for Better Fiji”, while smaller off-shoots of the group, set up to cater for specific towns, are also clocking thousands of membe