Riya Mala 
Poor governance is behind the failure of many cooperatives in Fiji, not their structure.
This was pointed out by Minister for Cooperatives and Deputy Prime Trade Manoa Kamikamica in Parliament.
He said while some groups have collapsed, the main issue was weak leadership, poor record-keeping and failure to follow basic processes.
To fix this, the Ministry is now training new cooperatives on how to manage their operations better. This includes proper meetings, clear guidelines and good record management.
“The $600,000 is quite welcome. It’s a 50% increase, which probably underpins the importance of this area. That’s really the background behind the allocation. It’s a similar structure to the IHRDP grant one-third, two-thirds. It’s not a handout grant. Hopefully, we can reach $1 million next year.”
Kamikamica said the Ministry launched a $400,000 grant last year to support cooperatives.
That amount has now increased to $600,000.
He confirmed nearly all of the first grant has been used by 17 cooperatives so far. These include farms, retail shops, and other community-run businesses.
He said the aim was to help grassroots communities benefit from economic growth.
Opposition MP Vijay Nath had questioned why so many cooperatives were failing.
“So there’s an increase here. I remember, even 20 years ago as a student, seeing cooperatives that were failing. But now, they’re kicking off well and performing strongly no doubt.”
There are now more than 1,000 active cooperatives across Fiji. The Ministry says the grant will only go to successful applicants.
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