THE agriculture sector provides employment to majority of the people in Fiji both directly and indirectly and a sector of the economy that benefit indirectly are market vendors.
Roshni Lata Chandra has been selling fruits and vegetables at the Navua market for the past 30 years and the income from her stall has helped her put her children through school.
Ms Chandra says she started with one stall and now has multiple stalls at the market with her son helping her sell the fruits and vegetables she buys from suppliers.
“I sell fruits and vegetables which I buy from suppliers here and even if its offseason I am able to find suppliers who have the fruits and vegetables that my customers want,” she said.
Ms Chandra said the income from the market helped her pay for her children’s education, supplemented her husband’s income and assisted them in running their household over the years.
“My children grew up watching me work here and they have also helped me here at the stall when they were young — they are married now and have their own jobs.”
In terms of supply of vegetables at this time of the year, Ms Chandra said there was no shortage of fruits and vegetables however there were some middlemen who demanded high prices for their produce.
“For example, cucumber is right now $100 per bag and this is the most expensive vegetable right now,” she said.
She said price of tomatoes was high early in the year but the price had decreased now as more tomatoes were in supply.
