A new agricultural research centre is helping Pacific islanders fight the effects of climate change and feed their people. Its work in crop production and soil fertility under island conditions offers benefits not just for the Pacific region, but for island groups throughout the world.
Remote Pacific Island communities face increasing socio-economic and environmental uncertainty. The breakdown of traditional community structures has removed an important social safety net. But islanders are reasserting control of their economic and social well-being and achieving spectacular results with the help of an IFAD-supported programme.
In the Pacific Islands, farmers have traditionally used organic farming methods, but because their produce was not officially certified, they were unable to enter the US$18 billion global market. Now, with the help of new regional organic standards, a growing number of island farmers are getting a good price for their produce in international markets, improving life for themselves and their families.
“I had the wall here initially and that was destroyed by the very high tides in 2005. I built this quite some time back. Over the years that was destroyed so I rebuilt it,” explains Anote Tong, the president of Kiribati, a tiny coral island nation of 33 atolls stretching across the Pacific Ocean, with a total land area of 811 square kilometres.
PARI VILLAGE, Papua New Guinea, 18 October 2004 – Konio Nao, 18, was attending grade 10 at school when she became pregnant. The boy who fathered her child was also a student. Konio says he did not want to have anything to do with the child. Although initially she did not want anyone, including her own family, to know about her pregnancy, Konio plucked up the courage to attend prenatal consultations – six months into her pregnancy.
The school enrolment and retention rate was low in the Tafea Province on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu, in the South Pacific Ocean. Children did not want to attend. Parents saw little value in sending them. But today, the struggle is to get the children to leave once the school day is over.
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