Farmers in Pacific Islands' communities are considered to be most vulnerable to the impacts o... more Farmers in Pacific Islands' communities are considered to be most vulnerable to the impacts of increased temperature, sea-level rise, droughts, cyclones, and heavy rainfall. Farmers living on a raised atoll in the Solomon Islands (Bellona) were interviewed to understand their perceptions and experiences on the impacts of climate change and extreme events on their crops. Some examples of damage and impacts according to the farmers included rotting of roots, damage to leaves and branches, and destruction of fruits and valuable yields. Interviews also revealed that the ability of farmers to recover after disasters was dependent on their pre-disaster conditions, number and varieties of crops they had planted, type of cropping system in use, and consistent use of simple, traditional, and innovative adaptive techniques. Such techniques included crop rotation, change of planting and harvesting dates, and the planting of new resilient varieties.
Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services which include the accumulation and storage of carbon ... more Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services which include the accumulation and storage of carbon and nutrients in sediments and biomass. Despite their importance in climate change mitigation and adaptation, seagrass ecosystems have been poorly studied, particularly in the Pacific. Therefore, the present study assessed variability in sedimentary and vegetative C, N and P storage in three monospecific seagrass meadows (Halophila ovalis, Halodule pinifolia and Halodule uninervis), reporting baseline data for the first time. Sediment C org stocks ranged from 31 to 47 Mg C ha − 1 and varied (p < 0.001) between seagrass meadows, unvegetated areas and locations. Comparison of N and P storage between vegetated meadows and unvegetated areas revealed differences (p < 0.05); implying seagrass meadows function as C, N and P sinks. Differences in species composition and environmental conditions, may play a key role in estimating C, N and P stocks, which are valuable data for conservation and monitoring of seagrass ecosystems.
Competing Certification Systems Forest certification itself comes with its own potential for gene... more Competing Certification Systems Forest certification itself comes with its own potential for generating conflict. From the international to the local level, forest certification is of concern to an extremely broad range of interests, including international lending institutions, international ...
Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lead global rates in obesity and non-communicable chro... more Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lead global rates in obesity and non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs). Drivers for this are complex and include lack of food sovereignty, evidenced by an increasing reliance on cheap nutrient-poor food imports and a focus on export orientated cash crop production for much local agriculture. To better inform SIDS' policy goals of improving nutrition through increased local food production, we explored in two SIDS current practices of food production and consumption. Teams of researchers from the two main regional universities conducted 28 focus groups in Fiji in the Pacific and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean with rural and urban communities of different socio-economic or land-owning status. In both countries home gardens were still common, valued as providing staple foods to households and contributing to health and livelihoods. Yet social changes had been experienced over the life course and across generations, such as increased purchase of foods, consumption of processed and often imported foods, and fast foods. While participants associated local foods with better nutrition and health outcomes than imported foods, some local foods were also acknowledged as unhealthy (e.g. locally produced tinned products, pesticide contaminated fresh produce). Finally, as food and related health advice moves globally, crossing national boundaries, and through formal and informal channels, local experiences can be confusing and contested. We suggest the need to understand temporal and spatial aspects of social practices, as social practices and their meaning change over time, travel globally and are experienced locally. To enhance and support re-localising food to counteract unhealthy consumption of ultra-processed, shop-bought, often imported foods, it is vital to understand these lived experiences of changes and resulting uncertainties, and to explicitly build on the longstanding positive relationships that people continue to express about home gardens and local food.
COVID-19 related border lockdowns, restricted movements and curfews are causing reduced household... more COVID-19 related border lockdowns, restricted movements and curfews are causing reduced household incomes, purchasing power and access to markets of rural and urban households in Fiji. Loss of income due to loss of jobs and reduced sales at markets have increased hardships faced by households. Purchasing power is low and families are reducing expenditure on food and non-food items. People in urban areas are moving back to rural communities. There is also an increased incidence of social issues such as land conflicts and thefts of high value crops and livestock. Communities are selling more "unhealthy cheap products such as cigarettes, kava, noodles, snacks" to generate income for households. Many people are moving to the villages and are contributing positively to increase the productivity of farms. As the lockdown eases, households are selling some produce but there is a worry that the purchasing power and income of many households is getting worse. Sales are likely to continue to decrease as many households produce the same products. The cultural, religious and communal safety net is becoming stronger and helping communities cope through practices such as land sharing, na solesolevaki, barter systems, and provision of relief supply to the most vulnerable households. There is a need to mobilize resources and information and tools to support CSOs, NGOs and communities to scale up the communal safety net actions to support households.
Pacific Countries may consider using the interventions that they think are relevant and important... more Pacific Countries may consider using the interventions that they think are relevant and important for building their resilience on areas of food security.
Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However,... more Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However, there is no guarantee that households are not affected by nutritional inadequacy, which is still a problem in most underdeveloped nations. A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine the HDDS through the snowballing method for the last 12 months' food groups-and-sources and the 48-h diet recall. Ninety-eight households in two rural communities surrounding Sikwafta (zone one) and Malu'u (zone two) participated in the interview between April and May 2019. The results were then analyzed through SPSS and QDA MINER. The aim is to analyze the household dietary patterns of the communities between the two zones. The study also hypothesizes that the dietary pattern of households has not changed. Results showed that a total of nine food groups were consumed: grain, white roots, tubers, plantains, oils/fats (95.90%), condiments (83.70%), and meat/poultry/ sea foods (77.60%). The majority of the food consumed comes from the gardens, followed by other food sources, which make up the average HDDS of five. A correlation analysis found a statistically significant relationship between HDDS and total meal (0.504*), with no relationships between demographics. When comparing 48-h food sources-and-groups to the previous year, there was little to no difference in accessibility and availability. This implies that the majority of households are likely to achieve their nutritional needs within the parameters of their dietary trend. Even though households have adequate access to food, there is a significant need to improve their nutritional needs, even if they consume the average amount of the required food groups. Dietary patterns are extremely important to human health. According to several studies 1-4 , an unbalanced or unhealthy diet has continued to raise health concerns due to dietary and nutrient intake deficiency, contributing to the global burden of health problems. Globally, the most common health complications related to diets are cardiovascular diseases (CVD) or non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The change in food preferences has also resulted in progressively inadequate nutritious diets, resulting in over or undernutrition. For instance, in the last few decades, the Asia-Pacific region's food consumption patterns have shifted dramatically 5. Since the 1980s, as mentioned in 6-8 , there has been a growing shift in healthy dietary patterns from indigenous traditional diets centered on tubers, legumes, fresh fish and meat, green leafy vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fruit to a more westernized diet centered on saturated fatty and processed meats, refined rice, oils, and sweets. This shows an increasing reliance on ultra-processed diets high in salt, sugar, and saturated fats. Malnutrition is a problem in the Asia-Pacific region. Like many countries going through the diet transition, lack of nutritional energy and protein and micronutrient deficiencies have led to overweight and obesity in the region, even within the same household and sometimes within the same person because of the diet transition 5. NCDs are responsible for 71.00% of global mortality and disability, with the majority of cases occurring in lowand-middle-income countries 9. Within the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) themselves, NCDs are responsible for 80.00% of deaths and 75.00% of the obese population 9. Between 2010 and 2014, there was an increase in overweight adults from 29.30% to 33.00% in the region, with 5.20% of children under the age of five years 10. Because of the rising prevalence of malnutrition due to diet transitions, Sustainable Development Goal
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Feb 28, 2022
Observed Impacts A sense of urgency is prevalent among small islands in the combating of climate ... more Observed Impacts A sense of urgency is prevalent among small islands in the combating of climate change and in adherence to the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Small islands are increasingly affected by increases in temperature, the growing impacts of tropical cyclones (TCs), storm surges, droughts, changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise (SLR), coral bleaching and invasive species, all of which are already detectable across both natural and human systems (very high confidence 1) {15.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share high burdens of nutrition-related conditions, includi... more Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share high burdens of nutrition-related conditions, including non-communicable diseases, associated with an increasing reliance on imported, processed foods. Improving health through increasing the production and consumption of local, nutritious foods is a policy objective of many SIDS governments. This study aimed to understand contemporary challenges and opportunities to strengthening local food systems in two case study settings, Fiji and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Fifty-two in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in local food production. Interviews were analysed by both country teams using thematic analysis. Local food production networks in both settings included formal governance bodies as well as more informal connections through civil society and communities. Their main function was the sharing of resources and knowledge, but levels of trust and cooperation between the stakeholders varied ...
Logging on Guadalcanal, the largest island province in Solomon Islands is slight compared to leve... more Logging on Guadalcanal, the largest island province in Solomon Islands is slight compared to levels of exploitation in other provinces. But even there, logging activities are increasing because landowners can not resist the lures of royalties and promises of ...
Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However,... more Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However, there is no guarantee that households are not affected by nutritional inadequacy, which is still a problem in most underdeveloped nations. A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine the HDDS through snowballing method for the last 12 months' food-source-group and the 48-hour diet recall. Ninety-eight households in 2 rural communities in Malaita participated in the interview between April and May 2019 and analyzed through SPSS and QDA MINER. The aim is to analyze the household dietary patterns of two communities between Zion 1 and Zion 2. The study also hypothesizes that the dietary pattern of households has not changed. A total of 9 food groups; grain, white roots and tubers, plantains, oils/fats (95.90%), condiments (83.70%), and meat/poultry/sea foods (77.60%) were consumed. Majority of the food consumed are from the gardens followed by other food sources which makes up the ...
COVID-19-related border lockdowns, travel restrictions and curfews have negatively impacted the t... more COVID-19-related border lockdowns, travel restrictions and curfews have negatively impacted the tourism and other major commercial sectors and access to domestic markets in the Solomon Islands. The majority of employees have been laid off, without salary or wages and this has impacted the livelihood and wellbeing of citizens. This has had a knock-on effect on employment, incomes, purchasing power and market access of households in two peri-urban communities; Barana and Burnscreek and two rural communities; Ngalimbiu and Panatina (Mataruka) on Guadalcanal that were studied. Household incomes and purchasing power have declined and families have reduced expenditure on food and non-food items. Self-employment has increased for the peri-urban communities. Vendors have experienced difficulty in accessing markets to sell produce. After the government's directive to repatriate most of the city dwellers to their home provinces, Honiara City Council closed all market outlets, except the main central market. This resulted in a decline in sales which has discouraged many farmers who prior to COVID-19 restrictions, travelled almost daily to sell produce and for higher prices in the market.
The opinions, results, and interpretations of research contained in this volume are those of the ... more The opinions, results, and interpretations of research contained in this volume are those of the editors and authors alone and do not necessarily reflect positions of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, its collaborating partners or other institutions that contributed financially to the project. To download free chapter pdfs or order a bound copy of this publication, visit the Yale F&ES Publication Series website at www.yale.edu/environment/publications.
Farmers in Pacific Islands' communities are considered to be most vulnerable to the impacts o... more Farmers in Pacific Islands' communities are considered to be most vulnerable to the impacts of increased temperature, sea-level rise, droughts, cyclones, and heavy rainfall. Farmers living on a raised atoll in the Solomon Islands (Bellona) were interviewed to understand their perceptions and experiences on the impacts of climate change and extreme events on their crops. Some examples of damage and impacts according to the farmers included rotting of roots, damage to leaves and branches, and destruction of fruits and valuable yields. Interviews also revealed that the ability of farmers to recover after disasters was dependent on their pre-disaster conditions, number and varieties of crops they had planted, type of cropping system in use, and consistent use of simple, traditional, and innovative adaptive techniques. Such techniques included crop rotation, change of planting and harvesting dates, and the planting of new resilient varieties.
Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services which include the accumulation and storage of carbon ... more Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services which include the accumulation and storage of carbon and nutrients in sediments and biomass. Despite their importance in climate change mitigation and adaptation, seagrass ecosystems have been poorly studied, particularly in the Pacific. Therefore, the present study assessed variability in sedimentary and vegetative C, N and P storage in three monospecific seagrass meadows (Halophila ovalis, Halodule pinifolia and Halodule uninervis), reporting baseline data for the first time. Sediment C org stocks ranged from 31 to 47 Mg C ha − 1 and varied (p < 0.001) between seagrass meadows, unvegetated areas and locations. Comparison of N and P storage between vegetated meadows and unvegetated areas revealed differences (p < 0.05); implying seagrass meadows function as C, N and P sinks. Differences in species composition and environmental conditions, may play a key role in estimating C, N and P stocks, which are valuable data for conservation and monitoring of seagrass ecosystems.
Competing Certification Systems Forest certification itself comes with its own potential for gene... more Competing Certification Systems Forest certification itself comes with its own potential for generating conflict. From the international to the local level, forest certification is of concern to an extremely broad range of interests, including international lending institutions, international ...
Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lead global rates in obesity and non-communicable chro... more Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lead global rates in obesity and non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs). Drivers for this are complex and include lack of food sovereignty, evidenced by an increasing reliance on cheap nutrient-poor food imports and a focus on export orientated cash crop production for much local agriculture. To better inform SIDS' policy goals of improving nutrition through increased local food production, we explored in two SIDS current practices of food production and consumption. Teams of researchers from the two main regional universities conducted 28 focus groups in Fiji in the Pacific and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean with rural and urban communities of different socio-economic or land-owning status. In both countries home gardens were still common, valued as providing staple foods to households and contributing to health and livelihoods. Yet social changes had been experienced over the life course and across generations, such as increased purchase of foods, consumption of processed and often imported foods, and fast foods. While participants associated local foods with better nutrition and health outcomes than imported foods, some local foods were also acknowledged as unhealthy (e.g. locally produced tinned products, pesticide contaminated fresh produce). Finally, as food and related health advice moves globally, crossing national boundaries, and through formal and informal channels, local experiences can be confusing and contested. We suggest the need to understand temporal and spatial aspects of social practices, as social practices and their meaning change over time, travel globally and are experienced locally. To enhance and support re-localising food to counteract unhealthy consumption of ultra-processed, shop-bought, often imported foods, it is vital to understand these lived experiences of changes and resulting uncertainties, and to explicitly build on the longstanding positive relationships that people continue to express about home gardens and local food.
COVID-19 related border lockdowns, restricted movements and curfews are causing reduced household... more COVID-19 related border lockdowns, restricted movements and curfews are causing reduced household incomes, purchasing power and access to markets of rural and urban households in Fiji. Loss of income due to loss of jobs and reduced sales at markets have increased hardships faced by households. Purchasing power is low and families are reducing expenditure on food and non-food items. People in urban areas are moving back to rural communities. There is also an increased incidence of social issues such as land conflicts and thefts of high value crops and livestock. Communities are selling more "unhealthy cheap products such as cigarettes, kava, noodles, snacks" to generate income for households. Many people are moving to the villages and are contributing positively to increase the productivity of farms. As the lockdown eases, households are selling some produce but there is a worry that the purchasing power and income of many households is getting worse. Sales are likely to continue to decrease as many households produce the same products. The cultural, religious and communal safety net is becoming stronger and helping communities cope through practices such as land sharing, na solesolevaki, barter systems, and provision of relief supply to the most vulnerable households. There is a need to mobilize resources and information and tools to support CSOs, NGOs and communities to scale up the communal safety net actions to support households.
Pacific Countries may consider using the interventions that they think are relevant and important... more Pacific Countries may consider using the interventions that they think are relevant and important for building their resilience on areas of food security.
Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However,... more Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However, there is no guarantee that households are not affected by nutritional inadequacy, which is still a problem in most underdeveloped nations. A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine the HDDS through the snowballing method for the last 12 months' food groups-and-sources and the 48-h diet recall. Ninety-eight households in two rural communities surrounding Sikwafta (zone one) and Malu'u (zone two) participated in the interview between April and May 2019. The results were then analyzed through SPSS and QDA MINER. The aim is to analyze the household dietary patterns of the communities between the two zones. The study also hypothesizes that the dietary pattern of households has not changed. Results showed that a total of nine food groups were consumed: grain, white roots, tubers, plantains, oils/fats (95.90%), condiments (83.70%), and meat/poultry/ sea foods (77.60%). The majority of the food consumed comes from the gardens, followed by other food sources, which make up the average HDDS of five. A correlation analysis found a statistically significant relationship between HDDS and total meal (0.504*), with no relationships between demographics. When comparing 48-h food sources-and-groups to the previous year, there was little to no difference in accessibility and availability. This implies that the majority of households are likely to achieve their nutritional needs within the parameters of their dietary trend. Even though households have adequate access to food, there is a significant need to improve their nutritional needs, even if they consume the average amount of the required food groups. Dietary patterns are extremely important to human health. According to several studies 1-4 , an unbalanced or unhealthy diet has continued to raise health concerns due to dietary and nutrient intake deficiency, contributing to the global burden of health problems. Globally, the most common health complications related to diets are cardiovascular diseases (CVD) or non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The change in food preferences has also resulted in progressively inadequate nutritious diets, resulting in over or undernutrition. For instance, in the last few decades, the Asia-Pacific region's food consumption patterns have shifted dramatically 5. Since the 1980s, as mentioned in 6-8 , there has been a growing shift in healthy dietary patterns from indigenous traditional diets centered on tubers, legumes, fresh fish and meat, green leafy vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fruit to a more westernized diet centered on saturated fatty and processed meats, refined rice, oils, and sweets. This shows an increasing reliance on ultra-processed diets high in salt, sugar, and saturated fats. Malnutrition is a problem in the Asia-Pacific region. Like many countries going through the diet transition, lack of nutritional energy and protein and micronutrient deficiencies have led to overweight and obesity in the region, even within the same household and sometimes within the same person because of the diet transition 5. NCDs are responsible for 71.00% of global mortality and disability, with the majority of cases occurring in lowand-middle-income countries 9. Within the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) themselves, NCDs are responsible for 80.00% of deaths and 75.00% of the obese population 9. Between 2010 and 2014, there was an increase in overweight adults from 29.30% to 33.00% in the region, with 5.20% of children under the age of five years 10. Because of the rising prevalence of malnutrition due to diet transitions, Sustainable Development Goal
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Feb 28, 2022
Observed Impacts A sense of urgency is prevalent among small islands in the combating of climate ... more Observed Impacts A sense of urgency is prevalent among small islands in the combating of climate change and in adherence to the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Small islands are increasingly affected by increases in temperature, the growing impacts of tropical cyclones (TCs), storm surges, droughts, changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise (SLR), coral bleaching and invasive species, all of which are already detectable across both natural and human systems (very high confidence 1) {15.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share high burdens of nutrition-related conditions, includi... more Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share high burdens of nutrition-related conditions, including non-communicable diseases, associated with an increasing reliance on imported, processed foods. Improving health through increasing the production and consumption of local, nutritious foods is a policy objective of many SIDS governments. This study aimed to understand contemporary challenges and opportunities to strengthening local food systems in two case study settings, Fiji and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Fifty-two in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in local food production. Interviews were analysed by both country teams using thematic analysis. Local food production networks in both settings included formal governance bodies as well as more informal connections through civil society and communities. Their main function was the sharing of resources and knowledge, but levels of trust and cooperation between the stakeholders varied ...
Logging on Guadalcanal, the largest island province in Solomon Islands is slight compared to leve... more Logging on Guadalcanal, the largest island province in Solomon Islands is slight compared to levels of exploitation in other provinces. But even there, logging activities are increasing because landowners can not resist the lures of royalties and promises of ...
Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However,... more Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However, there is no guarantee that households are not affected by nutritional inadequacy, which is still a problem in most underdeveloped nations. A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine the HDDS through snowballing method for the last 12 months' food-source-group and the 48-hour diet recall. Ninety-eight households in 2 rural communities in Malaita participated in the interview between April and May 2019 and analyzed through SPSS and QDA MINER. The aim is to analyze the household dietary patterns of two communities between Zion 1 and Zion 2. The study also hypothesizes that the dietary pattern of households has not changed. A total of 9 food groups; grain, white roots and tubers, plantains, oils/fats (95.90%), condiments (83.70%), and meat/poultry/sea foods (77.60%) were consumed. Majority of the food consumed are from the gardens followed by other food sources which makes up the ...
COVID-19-related border lockdowns, travel restrictions and curfews have negatively impacted the t... more COVID-19-related border lockdowns, travel restrictions and curfews have negatively impacted the tourism and other major commercial sectors and access to domestic markets in the Solomon Islands. The majority of employees have been laid off, without salary or wages and this has impacted the livelihood and wellbeing of citizens. This has had a knock-on effect on employment, incomes, purchasing power and market access of households in two peri-urban communities; Barana and Burnscreek and two rural communities; Ngalimbiu and Panatina (Mataruka) on Guadalcanal that were studied. Household incomes and purchasing power have declined and families have reduced expenditure on food and non-food items. Self-employment has increased for the peri-urban communities. Vendors have experienced difficulty in accessing markets to sell produce. After the government's directive to repatriate most of the city dwellers to their home provinces, Honiara City Council closed all market outlets, except the main central market. This resulted in a decline in sales which has discouraged many farmers who prior to COVID-19 restrictions, travelled almost daily to sell produce and for higher prices in the market.
The opinions, results, and interpretations of research contained in this volume are those of the ... more The opinions, results, and interpretations of research contained in this volume are those of the editors and authors alone and do not necessarily reflect positions of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, its collaborating partners or other institutions that contributed financially to the project. To download free chapter pdfs or order a bound copy of this publication, visit the Yale F&ES Publication Series website at www.yale.edu/environment/publications.
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