Page 41 - Islands Business March 2023

SPBD

Meet the member: Viniana Loloyavura

In a busy part of Valelevu, Viniana Loloyavura has
a well-visited vegetable stall. Her loyal customers,
local residents and workers from the nearby
factories and warehouses, trust the freshness and
quality of her produce.
Prior to joining SPBD in 2015, Loloyavura only
sold cassava, working in a business her mother had
started.
She had been employed in a food processing
factory, “but I learnt from my mum that she made
more money than me. So, I learnt from her that it is
better to run my own business… rather than working
[at the factory]. Working there, I had less money.”
Loloyavura joined SPBD’s Valelevu Sisters In
Action Centre, when her sister, who was already a
member, moved back to the village. She used her
first $500 loan to expand her business, buying a
wider variety of vegetables from farmers.
She has taken several loans since then, continuing
to expand the business, and to pay for her three
children’s schooling: “I bought school uniforms,
school bags and school shoes, school books.”
But it was the purchase of a car, with the
assistance of another larger SPBD loan, that was
a game changer, especially when internal borders
closed during COVID-19.
Loloyavura used the car to travel to Sawani and
Wainadoi to buy directly from farmers, who were
unable to travel into Suva.
“If I didn’t go there, I wouldn’t have had any
vegetables.” And if she didn’t have a car, keeping her
business going would have been even more difficult.
She is also a graduate of the pilot Fiji Bloom SME
program, which seeks to support businesses to
graduate from micro businesses.
“It opened my eyes into growing more
businesses…they helped us learn more about how to
run our businesses.”
Her husband is from Kadavu. “I see there’s
no business there so I would like to go and run
a business in Kadavu. I want to go and open a
supermarket there. They’re using the fibre [boats]
and they have to go and look for benzine [fuel]. I’d
like to go and sell the benzine to them.
“I need my husband to go there to work,” she says
with a laugh. “I’m going to train him.
“I’d [also] like to go and run a vegetable farm there,
so it can supply me.”
While we talk, Loloyavura does not stop from
straightening piles of produce and serving
customers. Her eye is always on the business, and
on the future.
Mr. and Mrs. Sharma.

Islands Business, March 2023 41
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