Agriculture–Nutrition Situation in the Pacific Island States

Abstract

In 2016, CTA embarked on a joint project with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) entitled ‘Leveraging the Development of Local Food Crops and Fisheries Value Chains for Improved Nutrition and Sustainable Food Systems in the Pacific Islands (with a focus on Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu)’. This four-year project aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Pacific island governments, farmer and private-sector organisations and subregional institutions to develop innovative strategies and programmes that can increase poor rural people’s access to nutritious and healthy food and to mobilise the funds needed to deliver these.
Through the project and previous work, a series of rapid country scans were commissioned to collect detailed information on the agriculture, food and nutrition situation in the seven Pacific island nations to determine the entry points that provide the greatest opportunity for strengthening the agriculture–nutrition–income nexus. This document synthesises the key findings from across the countries, draws out lessons for policy and identifies opportunities for future investments to address the key food and nutrition security issues that the islands face.