PRAXIS.

Chuuri, kudaari ke sung,

Ab bitay din aur ratian;

Ganne ki hari hari patiyan;

Jaane hamari dil ke batiyan.

“...knife and hoe are their companions day and night…

green leaves of the sugarcane bear witness

to the flames of anguish that consume their hearts.”

— Rajendra Prasad (translation) (Prasad)

186 mile per hour winds. 350,000 impacted lives. 44 deaths. In February of 2016, Cyclone Winston tore violently through the Fiji Islands. Losses were monumental. Hundreds of homes were destroyed by landslides, and many were left without food, water, and electricity for days (“This Fijian Climate Justice Activist”). Winston is now one of eleven Category 5 storms in the South Pacific ocean since 1970, and the strongest cyclone to make landfall in the Southern Hemisphere (Di Liberto). Since then, Cyclones Harold (April 2020), Yasa (December 2020), Ana (January 2021), Cody (January 2022), and Lola (October of 2023) have transpired, each causing significant damage through flooding, mudslides, and the displacement of communities. 

Vishal Prasad, law graduate, climate justice advocate, and Campaign Director of the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, has sadly witnessed the drastic changes of Fiji’s ongoing climate crisis. As a child, Prasad remembers cyclones being a rare occurrence. Yet as he grew older, he not only noticed the increased frequency of these storms, but the rising damages that followed. He recalls visiting a northern village in 2020, where a series of cyclones and landslides destroyed several homes and villages. It was “a horrific experience to see the conditions in which these people were living.” Families who lost their homes were forced to relocate in tents, often having “one large tent that housed seven to nine people” (“This Fijian Climate Justice Activist”). Unfortunately, these catastrophic crises only continue to persist, and with rising sea level temperatures…the strengths of cyclones are only increasing.

Fiji's vulnerability to such disasters stems not only from its location but also from the very soil that envelops the island. The emanation of the island’s catastrophes involve a deeply rooted history–one derived from a world of the “Global North vs. the Global South.” The delicate balance between ‘betterment of economies’ and exploitation was traversed over a century ago, yet remains pervasive in Fiji’s current climate crises. 

THE GLOBAL NORTH 

Stemming from industrialization and an acquisitive desire to expand their nation, Britain was renowned for its wealth, power, and colonial market. By the end of the 19th century, the British empire dominated about a quarter of the world’s land, governing approximately a fifth of its population, the Fiji islands included. 

Colonized from the years of 1874 to 1970, Fiji was subjugated to the introduction of indentured laborers, subdued to meet the demands of the sugarcane plantation economy. The British Empire had abolished slavery in 1833. Indentured servitude began soon after as a way to replace slave labor. More than 60,000 Indians were sent to Fiji to work on the plantations. There, they faced low wages, long hours, and difficult living conditions. These laborers, also known as girmityas, suffered extreme violence and brutality in the fields. Several forms of cruelty were imposed, including boiling water being poured on their skins, contusion injuries, and even the deprivation of medical care. At one point, hundreds of Indians attempted to escape these awful conditions, but drowned in the Ba River. Many others took their lives. The suicide rate remained one in 20,000 in India, but sprang to 1 in 950 in Fiji–the highest statistic in the world (Prasad). 

Recruited then exploited, Indians were a source of cheap labor. Their lack of education and illiteracy were valued, for gullibility was a significant trait in sustaining and promoting a single interest: productivity, which led to prosperity. With high-speed profits in mind, Britain utilized numerous manipulation tactics, including implausible injunctions. The provisions of the Fiji Indian Indenture Ordinance No. 1 of 1891, Clause 58 under the title, Indentures and status of children, stated: “Every child of an indentured immigrant who on arrival be over seven years of age shall be indentured to serve on the plantation to which his parent is indentured” (Prasad). Parents, unable to read or write, were not aware that when they placed their thumb print to the indentured agreement, they were additionally agreeing to the enslavement of their children. They too, were not spared of violence. The plantation economy, fueled by indentured laborers and their descendents, boomed. 

Britain established 34 sugarcane mills in Fiji. Within the span of a few years, the island shifted from an agrarian society to one driven by extensive industrialization. Even after the abolishment of the indenture system, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR Company) of Australia, dominated the sugar industry in Fiji. They too employed girmitiyas to fulfill their demand for raw resources, and utilized crippling human manipulation and natural resources to achieve wealth. Molasses, a by-product of sugarcane, was exported massively out of Fiji for their profits. 

Cash crop monoculture, though it may have benefited the enriching nations, has had severe impacts–particularly in regards to earth’s ecosystems. In an attempt to reproduce a sole crop, Fiji has not only endured a reduction in biodiversity, but suffers from extreme soil degradation. Soil degradation occurs when nutrients in the ground have been depleted, often from growing the same crop in the same dirt, year after year (FoodPrint). In the long run, the ground becomes less productive, more 3 susceptible to erosion and unable to cycle water. 

In the event of a cyclone, there is a significant amount of water-runoff from heavy rains. If the soil has been deeply weathered, it cannot absorb nor hold water. Additionally, with lack of varied foliage to stabilize the soil, landslides become a greater commonality (McGregor). The possibilities for high-risk floods increase. Thus, torrential rain can be considered a deadly consequence for islanders. Winston, and damages from the other storms that have followed, are examples of such. 

The damages from flooding account for a considerable percentage of Fiji’s GDP. The Fiji government estimates that fluvial flooding has a loss of 2.6% GDP each year, and pluvial flooding has a loss of 1.6% GDP each year. These economic consequences equate to roughly 500 million dollars in losses per year (“World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal”). With climate disasters only worsening, the frequency and strength of cyclones are expected to increase at an adverse rate. Extreme weather events cannot be disregarded. 

THE 21ST CENTURY 

The economic, environmental, and unfortunately–mortal, results of climate change have compelled the Fiji government to take action. In 2016, Fiji became the first country to ratify the Paris Agreement, a legally binding treaty that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming (UNFCCC). Since then, Fiji’s Parliament has taken several other steps to combat climate disasters. Not only are they intent on protecting the island’s biodiversity by managing forests and mangroves sustainably, but they passed the Climate Change Act in September of 2021–a legislative framework addressing the impacts of climate change (“Fiji Climate Change Portal”). Fiji has also prioritized achieving a net-zero emissions reduction, and is determined to be proactive with nature-based solutions. One resolution was the incorporation of boulder seawalls, which has helped to protect coastal communities. In regards to the impacts of cyclones, Fiji has relocated six climate vulnerable communities to safer grounds since 2011. They are one of the first countries in the world to implement a policy relating to climate-induced displacement of communities and human mobility. 

With repeated cyclone damages, it is evident that the scars of human history remain not simply in the realm of history books, but rather in the very water, soil and air that sustain the Fiji Islands. From polyculture to monoculture, the utilization of cash crops has diminished its ecological resilience immensely. Though the legacy of indentured servitude has left lasting wounds, steps towards positive change have been initiated. The Fiji Islands are no longer victims of circumstance, but a nation active in dismantling the impacts of climate change. By embracing proactive policies and practices, those in the Fiji Islands are not only addressing past environmental damage, but paving the way for a more secure and sustainable future for generations to come.

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