Taukei Ni Waluvu - Cultivation and Viti Kabani

Cultivation and Viti Kabani

In the 1900s, the surrounding Nairukuruku river plains were cultivated with bananas as the major cash crop. The village banana farmers became exponents of the Viti Kabani movement and the quest by its enigmatic founder Apolosi Ranawai for native indigenous commercial enterprise against the wishes of colonial administrators. Ranawai had founded his Company at Nakorovatu, Matailobau where in 1912, as a carpenter he was building a church. Ratu Esira Rovucago V (1870–1934) of Nairukuruku was the secretary for the Viti Kabani in Colo East at the height of its popularity from 1913 to 1917. With the demise of the banana industry many villagers left to seek employment in the gold mines of Vatukoula and the tourism industry of western Viti Levu. Today subsistence market farming is the major village income earner with many families having left for urban living.