Cooperatives in the Pacific – Reflections on History, Change, Challenges, and Opportunities
My recent engagement with cooperative registrars, policymakers, and practitioners from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Vanuatu—particularly during my visit to Kiribati and the ICA-AP Regional Dialogue in Fiji has helped me gain a deeper appreciation of both the resilience and the fragility of cooperatives in the Pacific. In the Pacific Islands, societies’ cooperatives remain deeply embedded in the community approach seen through Solesolevaki (Fiji), Te Karekare (Kiribati), Kastom wok (Vanuatu), and Wantok (PNG).
There is no single “Pacific cooperative story.” Instead, there are multiple pathways shaped by history, geography, policy choices, market forces, and institutional capacity. Their trajectories since independence reveal uneven patterns of growth, decline, restructuring, and renewal. In all the countries, cooperatives were introduced and expanded during the colonial and immediate post-independence periods as instruments of economic inclusion. They were seen as ready mechanisms for organizing small producers, enabling access to markets, mobilizing savings, and ensuring the distribution of essential goods in geographically dispersed and remote communities.
In Papua New Guinea, cooperative activity dates back more than a century, with early agricultural and trading cooperatives promoted under colonial administration. Similar post-independence optimism characterized Fiji and Vanuatu, where cooperatives played a central role in agricultural marketing, retail distribution, and even banking. In Kiribati, cooperatives emerged as a response to structural constraints—small domestic markets, extreme remoteness, and heavy dependence on imports.
However, from the late 1980s and 1990s onwards, the cooperative movement across the region entered a more difficult phase. Reduced government support, economic liberalization, governance weaknesses, and increased competition from private actors exposed structural vulnerabilities within many cooperative enterprises. These pressures set the stage for significant transformations in all four countries.
Vanuatu’s experience illustrates how institutional restructuring and market liberalization can permanently reshape the cooperative landscape. One of the most significant developments was the transformation of the Vanuatu Cooperative Savings Bank into the National Commercial and Trading Bank in 1989, later renamed the National Bank of Vanuatu. It represented a clear shift away from cooperative ownership and governance toward a commercial banking model. At the same time, cooperatives that once held monopoly or near-monopoly roles in importing and distributing essential goods gradually lost preferential treatment. Liberalization and the withdrawal of state support reduced their market share, and the cooperative federation itself moved away from wholesale importing. Also, the leaders who championed cooperatives moved into the political realm and distanced themselves from the cooperative ethos.
In Vanuatu today is the renewed policy recognition of cooperatives. The country now has more than 400 active cooperatives with over 16,000 members, and savings and credit cooperatives—many with strong participation by women—are playing a significant role. Cooperatives are increasingly positioned within national strategies on food security, fisheries, and climate resilience, aligning them with the blue-green economy agenda. The cooperatives ecosystem is being strengthened through registry clean-up (deregistering inactive cooperatives) and improved coordination by the Vanuatu Cooperative Business Network (VCBN), a tertiary cooperative, to support training, governance, and market access.
Kiribati presents a markedly different experience. Cooperatives have struggled primarily due to structural constraints and internal governance challenges rather than deliberate policy-driven restructuring. The experience of the Nikon Boon Cooperative Society is particularly illustrative. After a period of decline in the 1990s due to mismanagement and competition, the cooperative was placed under the supervision of the Registrar to protect its assets. Rather than being dissolved or privatized, it was restructured and adapted its business model, including leasing property to private operators while retaining cooperative ownership. This pragmatic approach enabled survival in a highly constrained economic environment. However, the lack of member engagement was clearly visible.
An interesting initiative in Kiribati is the formation of the Kiribati Organic Farmers and Producers Secondary Cooperative (KOPF), bringing together farmers and producers from six islands across the country. KOPF has been established as an umbrella body to strengthen member cooperatives by building capacity, facilitating access to inputs, and coordinating transport services. Over time, it also aims to play a role in collective marketing and value-added processing. While it is still early days, KOPF’s strategic plan sets out a clear roadmap for scaling up organic production, improving market linkages, and strengthening livelihoods, while remaining grounded in Kiribati’s community-based traditions.
Papua New Guinea’s cooperative story is characterized less by formal privatization and more by what could be described as functional displacement. Cooperative marketing societies once played a central role in coffee, cocoa, and other export crops. Over time, governance challenges, limited access to capital, and weak institutional support undermined these cooperatives. Private exporters and processors gradually took over aggregation, processing, and export functions.
In this process, cooperatives were not converted into private companies, but they lost control over higher-value segments of the value chain. Many remained active (and continue) only at the primary producer level. Similar patterns emerged in the financial sector, where early cooperative credit structures gave way to commercial banks and private microfinance institutions.
PNG is showing renewed policy interest in cooperatives as drivers of inclusive growth, particularly within agriculture, fisheries, renewable energy, and eco-tourism. The formation of the PNG Cooperative Alliance (PNGCA), which still needs to be registered, aims to mobilize 6,112 wards across 326 LLGs nationwide to unite, represent and support cooperatives.
Fiji’s cooperative movement has undergone a significant evolution, shaped by economic liberalization, sectoral restructuring, and changing policy priorities. Established in 1947, cooperatives initially played a central role in consumer services and agricultural production, with the dairy sector—anchored by the Rewa Cooperative Dairy Company—serving as a flagship example of farmer-owned supply and processing. From around 2010, however, the sector experienced a major restructuring: farmer supply functions were retained within cooperative arrangements, while processing and branding were transferred to Fiji Dairy Limited and later privatised in 2012. This hybrid model preserved cooperative participation at the producer level while improving efficiency and attracting investment in processing. At the same time, it reduced cooperative control over higher-value segments of the value chain, illustrating the trade-offs that cooperatives face when operating in increasingly competitive and capital-intensive markets. There is an ongoing effort to go back to the earlier farmer-centered model.
In recent years, there has been a renewed effort to reposition cooperatives as instruments of inclusive, youth-led, and environmentally sustainable development. New and revitalised cooperatives—such as the Lautoka Fisheries Cooperative—are focusing on value addition and stronger market linkages through partnerships with government agencies and development partners. Women-led enterprises like the Bia i Cake Women’s Cooperative demonstrate how cooperatives are being used to support livelihoods and community-based enterprises. Importantly, youth engagement is emerging as a priority, with cooperatives increasingly seen as platforms to attract young people into agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and enterprise development, addressing both employment and succession challenges.
In the Solomon Islands, the cooperative movement has experienced cycles of growth and decline, shaped by rural livelihoods, limited institutional support, and fluctuating policy attention. Cooperatives have traditionally been concentrated in agriculture, fisheries, and consumer trading, closely linked to village economies and the wantok system of mutual support. While nearly 388 cooperatives have been registered over time, only about 51 are currently active, reflecting persistent challenges related to weak governance, limited capital, and poor market linkages. At the same time, there are signs of renewed momentum, particularly in agricultural cooperatives supported by development projects and growing policy interest. The Northwest Guadalcanal Cocoa Cooperative Society illustrates this potential, having improved quality, collective marketing, and member incomes through aggregation.
Across the countries, several common challenges emerged clearly from the presentations and discussions.
Governance and management weaknesses remain a major constraint. Many cooperatives struggle with basic bookkeeping, compliance, and board oversight. Limited access to professional management and regular audits undermines trust and performance.
Access to finance is another persistent challenge. Cooperatives often lack the capital required for investments in processing facilities, storage, transport, and cold chains—investments that are essential for competitiveness in agriculture and fisheries.
Market access and logistics pose additional barriers. High inter-island transport costs, fragmented markets, and inconsistent quality standards reduce cooperative competitiveness, particularly for export-oriented activities.
Climate vulnerability cuts across all sectors. Cyclones, droughts, volcanic activity, and sea-level rise disrupt production, infrastructure, and livelihoods, placing additional strain on cooperative enterprises.
Finally, policy and regulatory gaps persist. Outdated cooperative laws, limited registrar capacity, and weak alignment between cooperative policy and broader development strategies constrain the sector’s potential
Despite these challenges, there is renewed optimism about the future of cooperatives in the region. At the Pacific Regional Dialogue, recently organized by ICA-AP in Fiji, Hon. Esrom Immanuel, Minister of Finance, Commerce and Business Development of Fiji, spoke candidly about the Government’s commitment to rebuilding the cooperative sector and accelerating the reforms needed to restore its relevance and effectiveness. This emphasis on reform was echoed in my discussions with Hon. Tangariki Reete, Minister of Tourism, Commerce, Industries and Cooperatives of Kiribati, who brings a deep and practical understanding of the cooperative movement, having begun her career as a Cooperative Officer. She highlighted the ongoing review of laws and ordinances, including cooperative legislation, recognizing that with cooperatives operating across multiple sectors, a clear, modern, and enabling legal and policy framework is essential.
Beyond Fiji and Kiribati, there is visible momentum for policy reform in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, where governments are placing renewed emphasis on modernizing cooperative legislation, strengthening registrars, and integrating cooperatives more deliberately into national development strategies. Importantly, regional cooperation presents a major opportunity to amplify these national efforts. Peer learning, shared standards, regional training platforms, and blended finance mechanisms can help overcome the scale and capacity constraints faced by individual island states, while reinforcing cooperatives as credible economic actors within the Pacific’s evolving development landscape.
The recent engagement with Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, and Vanuatu shows that cooperatives in the Pacific are neither relics of the past nor guaranteed successes. They are dynamic institutions whose fortunes depend heavily on policy choices, governance quality, and the broader development context. With the right enabling environment, cooperatives can continue to play a vital role in inclusive, people-centred, and sustainable development across the Pacific.
Vinaka vakalevu! Tangkyu tumaa! Ko rabwa mauri! Tenkyu tru! Tankiu tumas!