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How Climate Change and the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact Food Security in the South Pacific

December 1, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

By Peter Boldt, Program Coordinator, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership

The South Pacific islands have largely avoided high COVID-19 infection rates that have severely shocked many nations in the rest of the world. This has largely been due to their geographic isolation, low population density and rapid public health responses such as the closure of borders. Nevertheless, the pandemic has increased socioeconomic challenges and exposed significant vulnerabilities. Food security in particular has been profoundly impacted as governments struggle to provide for citizens and supply chains continue to be disrupted. A recent DevEx article referred to the COVID-19 pandemic as a “magnifying glass” that has merely amplified pre-existing socioeconomic and environmental challenges.

 
Here is a traditional method of cooking local crops such as sweet potato and taro in Fiji, known as “Lovo.” Photo Credit – Axel Berg

It is important to distinguish the varying components which make up the generalized and accepted concept of ‘Food Security.’ The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food security as when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” It can be broken down into 4 general components:

Availability: Is there food near me and my community?

Access:  Is food easily attainable?

Utilization: Does the available food contribute to my health?

Stability:  Will there be food for the next while?

All four of these critical components need to be met simultaneously if food security is to be realized. Achieving food security is a basic human right and is reflected in the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), “Zero Hunger.” Overcoming this immense challenge has been considerably undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic and in many instances, progress has been reversed.

In the case of the South Pacific, agriculture remains an important sector that provides a high degree of food security. Fisheries also play an important role in delivering a key source of animal protein. Disadvantaged communities, in particular, rely on subsistence farming and fisheries for their food security – both of which continue to be threatened by climate change. Nevertheless, given their small size, limited economic dynamism and small populations, South Pacific islands continue to be considerably dependent upon food imports which highlights their economic vulnerabilities. Besides, their remoteness limits the frequency of deliveries which jeopardizes both food stability and access.

South Pacific Island States are unique in that they are more isolated from global logistical networks than anywhere else in the world. They also have very limited arable land and bear the most severe impacts of climate change which include sea-level rise, unpredictable precipitation patterns, increased frequency of cyclones and both warming and acidification of the ocean among other hazards.  These vulnerabilities have hindered efforts to expand agricultural production.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change is negatively impacting both agricultural and fishery sectors and as a result has resulted in unemployment, food insecurity, poverty and climate-induced migration to urban centers and nearby high-income countries like New Zealand and Australia. Higher rates of urbanization result in less consumption of traditional crops and instead, urban populations rely increasingly on processed imports, compromising their food utilization. Furthermore, higher reliance on these imports means that these populations are especially vulnerable to spikes in food prices – a consequence that we are now seeing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While tuna is a staple fishery resource in the South Pacific, it is increasingly being exported to outside markets, particularly in Asia.

South Pacific Island nations struggle with the highest indices of obesity in the world. Studies have significantly correlated this phenomenon with an increasing dependence on food imports which are disproportionally favoured over traditional foods and staples such as fish and root crops like taro and sweet potato. To make matters worse, these food imports are high in sugar, salt and fat which have led to high rates of diabetes and associated health problems. Malnutrition is thus an outcome of reliance on imported foods and can reinforce multidimensional problems like poverty. What occurs then is a cyclical pattern whereby poor households are forced to purchase low-cost, imported high-fat foods which may cause poor physical and cognitive development. This then leads to low productivity which can cause poverty. You can see then how poverty is intrinsically linked with food insecurity, how they can reinforce one another and why interventions and ambitious policy responses are needed to break these cycles.

Adaptation measures can take many forms and they are particularly critical if food security is to be realized in the South Pacific. According to a 2015 Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, maintaining a ‘business-as-usual’ approach will be a costly policy response and will likely result in negative impacts on the agriculture sector, food consumption levels, calorie availability and the severity of child malnutrition. The report goes on to recommend that the agriculture sector requires significant investments if it is to mitigate the effects of climate change. These can be in the form of improved crop management, efficient increases in fertilizer use and funding for innovative agricultural research. The report goes on to make a variety of other policy recommendations that ostensibly offset climate-induced impacts on the agricultural sector in the South Pacific.

These types of technical adaptation measures are important and certainly have a key role to play in realizing food security. But as previously mentioned, food security is a multidimensional and often deceivingly more complex challenge than it appears on the surface. It not only has to do with producing more food and mitigating climate impacts but it can also be a fundamentally political, economic and social issue. For instance, the commercialization of fisheries and agriculture sectors in many island states has led to the abandonment of traditional gathering systems in favour of so-called ‘cash crops’.

High value cash crops such as pineapple seen here in Papua New Guinea are favoured over diverse locally consumed crops. Photo Credit – Timothy Sharp

The intensification of commercial agriculture has in many instances eroded soil, compromised areas rich in biodiversity and merely led to increasing dependency on imports. This has largely been due to government pressure to increase exports and bolster the gross domestic product (GDP) of a given country. In other instances, many high-income countries and multinational enterprises have pressured local communities to plant cash crops in exchange for token compensation. This has been regarded by many activists as a form of neo-colonialism which only serves the interests of foreign consumers and is ultimately detrimental to rural farmers. Governments have largely been unable to stand up to the corporate food regime which has largely been enabled by unfair free trade agreements.

Rapid urbanization, climate change, and the neocolonial imposition of cash crops all threaten the varying components which conceptually make up food security. It has been almost a year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit but its monumental impacts on supply chains are continuing to challenge many small island states. Given their increasing reliance on global markets and food imports, this has dangerous implications for the region.

Of course, there is no easy solution but a few innovative responses have come to the fore which should be noted. As previously mentioned, technical adaptation measures that strengthen the agricultural sector will be vital in the long-run in order to mitigate the effects of climate change on critical crops. But in addition, the notion of food sovereignty and localization of food production has become increasingly relevant. Governments and foreign companies alike must recognize the right of communities to grow their own local food. This cannot occur until land rights are respected and returned to Indigenous populations and a slow reversion to traditional cultivating methods occurs.

Peter Boldt holds a Masters degree in International Development Studies and has worked internationally as a researcher. He is passionate about Indigenous rights, sustainable development and corporate accountability.

Filed Under: Climate Change, Food Security, South Pacific

Pasifik Pulse: Palm Oil and Food Insecurity in Papua

September 9, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Palm Oil and Food Insecurity in Papua

Prepared by Tana Thomas, PPP Arts and Culture Coordinator, who is also a Nuu-chah-nulth youth leader, canoe skipper, and healing advocate.

In Papua, Indonesia’s largest and easternmost province of Indonesia, large scale palm oil plantation developments are not only threatening animal and plant species, but also the caretakers that have sustained these species for thousands of years. Sophie Chao, an anthropologist at the University of Sydney, has spent years working with the Indigenous Marind people of southern Papua. In her powerful article, she sheds light on the severe impacts that new palm oil plantations are having on the region. What she has discovered in her in-community work is that the Marind people are increasingly unable to obtain their traditional foods and are suffering from malnutrition. 

Merauke and Boven Digoel, the districts in southern Papua where oil palm estates are concentrated.

The practice of harvesting their own food is one of the many factors that sustains holistic wellbeing in many Indigenous communities. Witnessing the loss of their traditional foods can bring overwhelming feelings of grief and shame stemming from not being able to provide for their families. The Marind children of the village have grown up learning to sustain and create abundance within their natural food systems when harvesting. Since time immemorial, Marind children have been firsthand witnesses to the generations before them, following protocols and enacting ceremonies passed on through generations in order to coexist with their relatives of the forest. 

Marind families are now fighting to sustain their customs, feed their families, and protect the natural forests that are their home, working from their deeply held belief that everyone and everything is interconnected. Exploitation of their forest food systems is destroying the spirit and wellbeing of their communities. The generational act of enculturation is being severed due to the detachment from teachings that stem from their environment. It’s an enforced act of assimilation into a system that bypasses the basic needs of humanity. Unfortunately, this is a common fight Indigenous people are facing throughout the world.

The Indonesian government continues to approve more palm oil projects with increasing impacts on Indigenous Papuans and their lands. Learn more about this important issue and catch a glimpse of the stories of Marind families in Chao’s article published by Mongabay and The Gecko Project.

Filed Under: Climate Change, First Nations, Food Security, Global Politics, Health and Well Being, Human Rights, Mining, Solidarity, South Pacific

Coronavirus Impact on Pacific Island Nations and Territories

May 1, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Research and story compiled by Andy E. Nystrom, PPP Archivist & Research Assistant

The following information is accurate to April 15, 2020. For the most up-to-date information tracking the COVID-19 virus in South Pacific nations, we recommend Worldometer’s website which regularly updates cases, deaths, and testing. For most countries the information can be found here.  For those countries that are under control of the United States, as well as Hawaii, click on USA in the above link or click here. 

COVID-19 Info Poster in Papua New Guinea

According to The Guardian’s weekly briefing on the Pacific on April 15, infection figures for the Pacific, while still low, more than doubled from the previous week. While Fiji, French Polynesia, and New Caledonia cases levelled out after their initial rise, they could rise again rapidly should containment efforts fail. A virtual meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum on April 7 led to the establishment of the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway for the Pacific (PHP-C), which “provides political commitment to the movement of humanitarian and medical assistance to countries affected by Covid-19, particularly where normal transport routes have been impeded by border closures.”

The following information from the above article on what the Pacific governments are doing as of mid-April is quoted verbatim, including the hyperlinks from the original article:

 Papua New Guinea: The government has opened a Covid-19 treatment centre in Port Moresby, which can cater for up to 76 patients. Traditional border crossings (into and from Indonesia, Australia, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Solomon Islands) have been forbidden. The military has been deployed to patrol in some places, especially along the Indonesia border. More than 300 people have registered their interest in being repatriated from around the world.

 Fiji: Specialised military vehicles received from China will be used in the fight against Covid-19. The government has allowed for repatriation flights from the US and Australia. Returnees will be required to undergo 14 days of strict quarantine on arrival.

 Solomon Islands: Parliament has voted for a four-month state of emergency covering Honiara. Dr Claude Posala who is chair of the Solomon Islands Medical Association, was sacked after taking to Facebook to criticise the government response to Covid-19. The government has closed its maritime border with Bougainville and imposed a two-night curfew over the Easter weekend

 Vanuatu: Authorities are maintaining strict protocols for receipt of medical and other humanitarian assistance to minimize risks of introducing the virus. This includes sanitation of supplies received and keeping any accompanying personnel air side. The government has determined that no foreign personnel will be allowed to enter Vanuatu to assist with the humanitarian response to cyclone Harold.

 New Caledonia: Restrictions on travel and public gatherings have been extended until 19 April. The customary Senate has called for restrictions to be imposed for longer and wants all weddings this year cancelled. But the provincial president of the Loyalty Islands says the restrictions should be relaxed in his province. Repatriation flights continue, including from Japan and French Polynesia.

 Samoa: The prime minister has indicated he has no intention of re-opening borders. The government has announced an economic stimulus package with focus on supporting tourism. The Samoa Hotels Association says 50 hotels have closed and 500 workers have been laid off, with more job losses expected.

 Marshall Islands: The government has sought to quell community concerns about proposed and rumoured arrivals by sea and air. The Nitijela was reconvened for an emergency two-day session which included a lengthy briefing from the national disaster committee. An economic impact committee has been established to assess the impact of the shutdowns in various sectors including tourism, hospitality and aquaculture.

 Federated States of Micronesia: President David Panuelo has announced a $15m economic stimulus package, with a focus on wage subsidies.

 French Polynesia: President Édouard Fritch has advised citizens and residents who are stranded overseas, including in France, that there are no plans to facilitate their repatriation.

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: The government has announced that the public service will be cut in half as a result of a Covid-19 related economic collapse.

Reports from other sources are presented below:

Palau’s President Tommy Remengsau is enforcing strict isolation steps in his country.  He has shut off the tourism-dependent nation and plans to continue the isolation until the rest of the world is over the worst of the virus, even if the cost to the government is 60% of tax revenue.

People breaking quarantines is an issue in the Pacific.  “One sailor in Guam was caught leaving his room while in quarantine. Meanwhile in Fiji, multiple people breaking the strict lockdown rules has led Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to state those who breach any such regulations should be ‘dismissed’.”

The Hill is critical about the lack of coverage of US territories that are not one of the 50 states, noting that while stats for them are being reported, they are generally left off of corona virus maps of the US. Most Americans know about the USS Roosevelt being docked in Guam but little about Guam itself. In Guam the military “controls nearly a third of Guam’s land. COVID-19 infected sailors from the USS Roosevelt are being moved to the Guam Naval Hospital. Sailors who test negative and are asymptomatic are being quarantined in hotels and kept under military surveillance. This latter move has local leaders and the general public worried that they could endanger the island’s overall health.” The article also notes the difficulties in assessing contagion in the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa (the latter thus far having no confirmed cases) because “they both lack testing capacity and must send their specimens to Guam.”

You can help by making a donations to PPP’s  Pacific Resilience Fund which will support COVID-19 relief efforts in the Pacific Islands region. For more information click here.

Filed Under: Food Security, Global Politics, Health and Well Being, Human Rights, Solidarity, South Pacific Tagged With: #WeAreResilient, COVID-19, Pacific Resilience Fund

COVID-19 Impacts on the Informal Economy in Wewak, Papua New Guinea

May 1, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

By Penial Kabilo, Project Lead, Vendors Collective Voices, HELP Resources

Quick statistics: With the markets closed since March 28 2020, 1400 vendors in the Wewak market could not earn a living for 4-5 weeks now. At least 500  street vendors sold outside the market. And at least another 500 had so called table markets around a small radius from the market. So approx 2500 had their livelihood greatly impacted. 

With most urban markets around the country temporarily closed due to the Corona virus threat, local informal economy workers are already

Empty Wewak Market

feeling the brunt of this global pandemic. Unlike workers in the formal systems who are guaranteed some social security during the lock-down, informal workers are not eligible for such social protection.

Social distancing and staying at home are death sentences for this group of workers that work in a grey area of the economy. Those in authority are of the perception that informal economy workers are involved in illegal activities, they are unimportant, that it is largely women’s work therefore is of no real significance and is less productive. However, these workers play a crucial role in the functioning of urban centres. Market vendors maintain urban food security, provide nutritious street food, reduce poverty by offering low cost food alternatives and other services.

Their absences on the streets and in markets around the country in the last one and half months is surely affecting the proper functioning of urban life. Urban food security is under threat during the lock-down, as not all urban residents

The same area before the lock down and State of emergency.

are able to stock up on store goods. Much needed cheap local organic food is not reaching consumers, the absence of this marginalized and vulnerable group is beginning to be noticed by the majority and those in authority.

If there was a time that those in authority can provide social assistance to informal workers, now is the time. But for a country like PNG where social security systems are almost non-existent, it is an impossible task.

However, such decisions are made to safeguard our health and minimize the spread of the Corona Virus. A sad fact that many informal economy workers and the general public must accept and live with.

Closure of Wewak Main Market and other privately run markets.

 The closure of the main market took effect on 28th March and has been so for more than 1 month now.  The Provincial Chairman for the COVID- 19 response team recently announced through a circular that the main market will still be closed until such time the threat from COVID-19 is neutralized, for time being designated areas for temporary markets are at Boram/Moem Junction, Kaindi and Yawasoro. Small suburban markets are encouraged with social distancing and good hygiene practices to be observed. Vendors at other districts are encouraged to trade in their respective districts.

 The Wewak Town Market on average has 1200 vendors and is one of the main revenue earners for Wewak Urban Local Level Government, with an estimated 1.4 million Kina (450 000 US Dollars) rolling into the Local Level Government’s account per year (HELP Resources Baseline report 2018). With its closure, revenue shortfall is imminent, according to the Wewak Urban LLG who went on the local news, casual staff will be laid off due to shortfall in revenue. They have since been pressuring the Provincial COVID-19 task-force chairman to reopen the market.

Vendors are also affected by the closure, in one of HELP Resources community outreach to Hawain, a village located outside of the urban boundaries, village women have expressed dissatisfaction at the current situation. They have no space to bring their produce to sell and the designated areas available for trading are not safe. They have made pleas to authorities to have some proper systems in place during this state of emergency.

This area is usually crowded during fortnights, not the case in this photo taken last week Friday (24th April).

Since then, pressure from vendors, the general public and the Wewak Urban Local Level Government has made the Provincial Covid-19 task-force to reconsider their decision. Just recently in our meeting with the Local Level Government Officials 28th April HELP Resources has been notified that a decision has been reached on the 22nd April to reopen the Town Market on the 5th of May. However other smaller suburban markets and the two privately run markets (Dagua and Kreer) will not be opened to the general public, a decision that will surely create some hot air. Scholar Sengi who is an urban reseller has already made an appeal to local authorities to reopen Dagua Market, she buys betel nut from rural vendors and resells this at Dagua Market. Since the closure of the market she and other urban resellers were forced to sell at their respective communities and other unfamiliar territories. She has since noticed a big decline in her revenue and cannot fully support her family.

Other vendors who depend mostly on informal economy have all expressed similar sentiments. Not only does the market closures affect their daily income but also the lack of customers. The travel restrictions and the general panic of contracting the virus has caused people to stay at home. Maria, 70-year-old woman who sells

Maria selling next to her house at Sepik Timber

home baked scones in front of her house is one such vendor who is finding it very hard to make ends meet due to this situation. Her husband is unemployed, and their only source of income is from her daily sales.

Food security in Wewak

The closure of the Main market and two privately run markets has affected the food security of urban residents. These markets supply fresh vegetables and other local spices as well as fresh fish and other sea foods. Market closure means no supply. Not all urban residents in Wewak can afford to relay on store goods for two weeks, markets complement their meals.  Nutritious organic foods from the rural areas are in demand at these times. The designated markets in operation are operating on ad hoc, no regulations on prices and no form of management. Their operations are based on mutual understanding between vendors and customers, security is also a concern as these markets are pushed to the fringes of the town.

HELP Responses to this crisis

Rural vendors selling at one of the designated areas, (Kaindi).

The State of Emergency and COVID-19 threat has not deterred the team from HELP Resources from going ahead with our project activities, however on a lesser scale than was expected. The team has realised that informal economy vendors are the most affected group within our societies at this very challenging time, hence the office must operate to serve, protect and represent their interests.  The Project, Vendors Voice shaping Informal Economy’s main activity for this year, the informal economy community information sessions will be used as a forum to encourage, communicate and strengthen vendor’s spirits at this dark period. Moreover, HELP Resources is also in dialogue with Local Government and other partners to assist with the reopening of the main market. The office is also assisting women who cannot sell their handicraft by advertising on social media.  All our field activities are strictly planned with close observations to State of Emergency rules and COVID-19 Health requirements.

Penial Kabilo, Project Lead, Vendors Voice Shaping Informal Economy Development.  Penial’s main role is to provide leadership in the projects operations that includes leading a cadre of community based IE advocates, provide advice to existing vendor’s association and guide formations of new associations, providing training to local government officials, vendors and other stakeholders on Informal economy development and also liaise between HELP Resources and local government on the projects development. Plus maintain and provide updates on the project development on social media.

RECENT FACEBOOK UPDATES:

HELP Resources meets with Wewak Town Authorities April 28, 2020

Amid the doom and gloom of COVID-19, some positives are slowly emerging for informal economy workers, especially the market vendors and the residents of Wewak town. A brief brainstorming meeting was held today with partners from Wewak Urban Local Level Government and Wewak Town Commission. The main agenda was on the effects of COVID-19 on the informal economy in Wewak and how best HELP Resources can assist with the reopening of Wewak Town Market with respect to current SOE rules and COVID-19 health measures. We have been assured by Mr. Kabaru and the Deputy Mayor that the Town Market will reopen on May 5th. Unfortunately, all other roadside markets will remain closed. Other designated markets at Boram Junction, Old Airstrip, Kaindi and Yawasoro will remain open for the time being.

HELP Resources informal market meetings about COVID

Information Session at Tui village, Hawain by HELP Resources on the Informal Economy and the importance of vendor’s voice. With the current (COVID) restrictions and closure on Wewak’s main market, rural vendors are finding it very tough, the importance of having a united voice at these uncertain times is vital in bringing rural vendors concerns to relevant authorities.

Filed Under: Food Security, Gender and Women, Human Rights, Justice & Equality, Solidarity, South Pacific Tagged With: COVID-19, HELP Resources, Papua New Guinea, Vendors Collective Voices

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