Living standards

An important selection criterion for my study sites was proxim ity to a market economy. Access to a market economy is expected to affect the level o f the two types o f social capital within the two districts. In this section, I explain how the livin g standards o f the two districts differ and how their access to a market economy affects this.

Job opportunities and income

The villages o f Cuvu District have a solid economic base both at the community and individual level. The residents o f Cuvu District have better jo b opportunities in comparison with some other parts o f Fiji due to the presence o f tourism and proxim ity to Sigatoka town. In particular, the Fijian Resort provides the main source o f income by employing villagers both on a part-time and full-tim e basis. Income is also generated by employees o f the Outrigger Reef Fiji Resort, Pacific Green, and other work places in and near Sigatoka town. It seems that women have relatively better opportunities in finding a jo b position at the Resort, as they can work as a housekeeper or baby sitter without having specific vocational education or training. Thus, women are often the primary income earner in the family.

The participants in my survey in Cuvu indicated that their monthly income from a paid job ranged from US$ 68.40 to $352.26 ( N = ll, Mean=153.9, SD=89.51). In addition,

many villagers also received remittances from family members working in other parts of Fiji and overseas. However, it was not possible for me to obtain data on this during the fieldwork because the villagers sometimes were unwilling to state their exact income. At the individual household level, income is spent on: basic food commodities; monthly bills for electricity and water; children’s education; weekly church donations; and traditional obligations to clan and village (PCDF 2003: 19).

Compared to Cuvu, Wai residents have fewer job opportunities. Sugar plantations provide employment for male residents of Wai, mainly from March to December. Physically, the south western coastal area of Viti Levu is characterised by a relatively humid climate and moderate dry season favourable for growing sugar cane. Approximately 85 per cent of land in the Wai district has been put to use cultivating sugar cane or pine trees. The remaining 15 per cent include mangroves, grassland and scattered remnants of dry forests (Areki 2002: 1). According to the villagers, a weekly wage for cane cutting is US$28 (8 hours per day for 6 days a week).

Given the fewer job opportunities, Wai residents have lower monthly incomes, ranging from US$17.10 to $262.20 (N=7, Mean= 102.6, SD= 151.53). However, this statistic may be biased because the size of my sample was small. Only seven of 62 survey respondents answered that they were employed at the time of survey. More comprehensive data can be found in the socio-economic survey done by the WWF (Areki 2002). This survey covered monthly household income as can be seen in Figure 4.4 presents monthly income at the household level. Families who depend on local natural resources as their major source of income make up approximately 77 per cent (33 per cent depends on fishing while 44 per cent depends on farming). More than half (54 per cent) of families living in

the village earn less than US$57 (equivalent to 100 Fijian dollars) per month, and 56.3 per cent of these low income families depend on the sale of agricultural products. Another 31 per cent of them depend on the sale of marine products. The remaining 46 per cent of the families have over US$57 per month, 40.6 per cent of them earn cash from the sale of marine products while the numbers o f families dependent on farming products is only 29.7 per cent.

4.5.5 Housing

In Fiji, the type o f house is often used as an indirect indicator o f household wealth (for example, National Census). The types generally fall into four categories o f building materials: concrete, wood, tin and thatch (Areki 2002: 14). More financially able households tend to have concrete houses, while tin houses are more common among lower income households. Although the distinction is not a direct indicator o f wealth and some well o ff households are known to build wooden or thatch houses, in general, low income families use tin and thatch for their houses.

In Cuvu, approximately 95 per cent o f the houses are made o f either concrete or wood and properly partitioned to separate the bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom and toilet (PCDF 2003: 15). The houses have a shower either inside or outside, although I did not observe any houses w ith hot water. Many houses have a flush toilet (70.7 per cent) (PCDF 2003: 17), and it is very rare to see pitfall toilets in the villages. Although the water supply is usually fine, it does sometimes stop. While some families use firewood for cooking, use o f gas is also common. Most families possess radio and TV , and some have a CD player, video recorder or D V D player. Although possession o f a vehicle is not common, a few families in every village do have a car. For example, during my stay in Yadua village, I observed only two families who owned vehicles.

Compared to those in Cuvu, houses in Wai are generally smaller. Low income families most commonly have houses with corrugated iron or tin built over a wooden framework. Forty-one per cent o f the houses are built using tin, while nearly 36 per cent are cement (Areki 2002: 15). The rest falls into either the category o f wood (16.2 per cent)

or thatch (6.8 per cent). The floors of those houses are either wooden or raised mud covered by layers of locally weaved mats. These houses normally have one room that serves the purpose of living room, bedroom and, in certain instances, the kitchen as well. However, in many cases, kitchens are also separate from the main house. These kitchens are usually built from tin, wood or both and the members o f the family, most often women, use firewood for cooking.

In villages o f both districts, well-built traditional thatch houses, or bure, are usually reserved for the chief and members of his family. These houses are constructed purely from local materials, such as native timber, bamboo, reeds and coconut fronds. They contain one very large single room where the floor is covered with thick layers of mats and, in most cases, are completely devoid of furniture. Although this traditional style of house remains in the villages as a symbol of authority, it is considered less favourable among villagers as a residence. One reason is that the time and effort necessary to build and maintain such houses requires community assistance (Areki 2002: 15). Moreover, cement houses are preferred because they are considered to be a symbol o f wealth.

Overall, the villagers o f Cuvu are considered ‘rich’ due to the relatively high standard of living. Cuvu district is considered to be an example o f modernised village life, clearly reflected in the overall standard of housing. A resident described the economic influence of the Resort thus:

The Fijian is the first hotel since around late 1960s, and the hotel started helping the local people in the district by offering job opportunities, so you don’t see normal Fijian bures here, but people live in concrete houses. I see the change in standard of living, which is getting better. We have land, other sources of income and people work for their families. (Villager3 of Cuvu)

On the other hand, houses in Wai reflect the lack o f a solid economic basis for residents.