Urban issues
Food security in the South Pacific island countries with special reference to the Fiji Islands
Governments must invest in infrastructure, prepare risk management strategies to boost national food production
Authors:
K.L. Sharma
Publisher:
World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), 2006
This paper analyses the status of food security in several South Pacific Island countries, namely Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. It looks at both the national and household levels, and finds that national food security is dependent on the continuation of subsistence farming and tapping ocean resources.
Due to narrow resource base and production conditions, Pacific Island countries concentrate on a few primary commodities for production and exports. During recent years import dependency for food items has increased mainly due to a decline in per capita food production and a rapid rate of rural-urban migration. Currently, export earnings can finance food imports but earnings could fall short of the requirements needed after the expiry of some commodity preferential price agreements with importing countries. The author argues that food security is still dependent on subsistence farming, the harvesting of ocean resources, and the commercial farming of crops in which Pacific Islands have a comparative advantage.
The paper concludes that increased productivity is vital for improving agricultural performance through government investment in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension, irrigation and appropriate price incentives. This would also help alleviate poverty through improved accessibility of food by households. Finally, there is also a need to design appropriate disaster risk management programmes to minimise any adverse effects on the food supply.[adapted from author]
