Quite a large number of vendors at the Suva Municipal Market are women and they face many challenges getting to the trading facility.
The sometimes challenging conditions they endure while selling their goods is another story.
And just like most Fijian women, they get up every morning with a smile on their faces and go about doing what they needed to do to provide for their families.
It is sometimes a thankless task and many women vendors go through life unappreciated for the myriad of roles they play — wife, mother and breadwinner.
Despite the transport challenges women of Namalata, Tailevu, face in trying to get their produce to the Suva Municipal Market, they make the journey anyway.
Their families’ survival depends on it.
And a perfect example of their strength and determination is the story of Lusia Tinai.
The Delasui villager has been a market vendor and farmer for the past 20 years.
She and five other women leave their village at 4am every Thursday to sell their vegetables, produce, flowers and rootcrops at the Suva Municipal Market.
“We travel together and sell at the Suva market on Thursdays and Fridays and return on Saturday evening after selling all our vegetables and rootcrops,” the 54-year-old said.
“I have six children, two of them are working and the rest are helping out at the farm while the youngest is a class seven student.
“A challenge we face is that we do not have a big truck to take us to Suva so we have to hire a small carrier for $200 and this limits what we can take.
“We pay for our own fare to Suva and we travel by bus on Saturday evening to return to the village.”
Ms Tinai said there were times when they would be subjected to the elements.
“If there is a bad weather then we have to find accommodation with relatives in Suva to sleep in.
“There are tents available for us to sell outside. When there is a downpour we often get wet, but we still have to sell outside the market.
“So a challenge for us is trying to keep dry while selling during bad weather because the outside of the market will be filled with water and there is no place for us to sit.”
Ms Tinai said despite the difficulties they faced, being a market vendor was a lucrative trade.
“Sometimes I earn $600 from the three days of selling vegetables and root crops at the Suva Municipal Market.
“I would earn more money if all the vegetables were in season.
“In the village we have a farm and we also plant our vegetables and rootcrops.”
Apart from selling vegetables, dalo and yaqona, Ms Tinai also has a flower business.
“I also plant and sell flowers to earn extra income for my family.”
Ms Tinai’s advice to women who were looking to go into business for themselves is to venture into flowers because of the demand.
“Selling flowers is easy — you just need a knife and use your own hands to plant flowers.
“For us women, we need to identify what we are good at and go into those businesses.
“If you are a stay-at-home-mum, you can sell flowers.
“Most of the time when my vegetable produce is not sold, customers buy flowers.”
