Agriculture Under a Changing Climate

Iese, Viliamu; Halavatau, Siosiua; N’Yeurt, Antoine De Ramon; Wairiu, Morgan; Holland, Elisabeth A.; Dean, A. C. R.; Veisa, Filipe; Patolo, Soane; Havea, Robin; Bosenaqali, Sairusi; Navunicagi, Otto

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32878-8_9

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Sweet potato, one of the most important crops grown by the farmers, grows more vigorously during the rainy season but produces fewer tubers. Farmers' observations were similar to the results of previous research in the region by Iese et al (2015Iese et al ( , 2020 and Maeke (2013). Loss of traditional crop varieties was also highlighted as a problem.…”

Section: Impacts Observed By the Farmers On Their Food Crop Productionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…In the PICs, agriculture, livestock husbandry, and fisheries are some of the most common practices providing rural households with food security and supplementary income (Iese et al 2020). People's involvement in, and behaviours towards, these activities can also be explained by experience, belief, and knowledge of traditional or modern science, which may likewise influence their attitude towards the factors affecting their agriculture, livestock, and fishing activities.…”

Section: Connections Between Religion and Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Religious and Cultural-Spiritual Attributions of Climate-Driven Changes on Food Production: A Case Study from North Malaita, Solomon Islands

Bird

Wairiu

Combes

et al. 2021

Climate Change Management

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Increasing concern exists over the impacts of climate change on food production amongst the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Changing weather patterns are already having effects on soil fertility, pests and diseases, heat stress in plants, soil moisture, saltwater incursion from rising sea levels, and increased damage to agriculture and crops from climate-related extreme events. Although climate-related extreme events such as cyclones, floods, droughts and storm surges are causing damages on food production, farmers in PICs often attribute the occurrences and frequency of climatic hazards to God, spiritual beliefs and cultural practices. This paper evaluates farmers' perceptions of how their food production systems and livelihoods are influenced by religious and cultural-spiritual beliefs, as a proxy for understanding climate impacts. We conducted 98 in-depth, semi-structured one-on-one interviews, a social-demographic survey (n = 98) and personal observations on farmers' behaviours using the snowballing method in the Malu'u and Sikwafata communities on Malaita in the Solomon Islands. We thematically analysed the transcripts placing emphasis on understanding commonalities and differences within and between the study sites. We found that climate impacts on food production are one of the major problems identified by 92.3% of the respondents (29.0% of youths, 25.8% of middle-age, and 37.5% of elderlies) who attribute climate impacts to God's punishment or the fulfilment of a prophecy. Human factors including folklore (cultural behaviours/sorcery) were also factors affecting food production for 76% of the respondents (19.3% of youths, 31.6% of middle-age, and 25.1% of elderlies). We also found that 5.4% of farmers had no knowledge or awareness about climate change and 21.7% claimed that lack of farming equipment (tilling tools and planting materials) was a major problem. More community awareness on climate change and its impacts and further research is needed to enable farmers to make informed decisions about improving their food production systems.

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Section: Impacts Observed By the Farmers On Their Food Crop Productionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Connections Between Religion and Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Religious and Cultural-Spiritual Attributions of Climate-Driven Changes on Food Production: A Case Study from North Malaita, Solomon Islands

Bird

Wairiu

Combes

et al. 2021

Climate Change Management

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“…From a PICTs community and vulnerability perspective, understanding the succession between droughts-cyclones-droughts is important in terms of exposure and impacts. Sequential hazards may take place over 2-3 years, making it difficult for PICT communities to recover completely and causing communities to be "always in a recovery mode" (Iese et al 2020). The drought-cyclone-drought succession contributes to severe impacts because of incomplete recovery from the previous disaster, compounding the vulnerability of communities (e.g.…”

Section: Interactions Between Droughts and Tropical Cyclones In The Picts-communities In A Cycle Of Recovery Modementioning

confidence: 99%

Historical and future drought impacts in the Pacific islands and atolls

et al. 2021

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Drought is known as a “creeping disaster” because drought impacts are usually noticed months or years after a drought begins. In the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), there is almost no ability to tell when a drought will begin or end, especially for droughts other than meteorological droughts. Monitoring, forecasting and managing drought in the PICTs is complex due to the variety of different ways droughts occur, and the diverse direct and indirect causes and consequences of drought, across the PICT region. For example, the impacts of drought across the PICTs vary significantly depending on (i) the type of drought (e.g. meteorological drought or agricultural drought); (ii) the location (e.g. high islands versus atolls); (iii) socioeconomic conditions in the location affected by drought; and (iv) cultural attitudes towards the causes of drought (e.g. a punishment from God versus a natural process that is potentially predictable and something that can be managed). This paper summarises what is known and unknown about drought impacts in the PICTs and provides recommendations to guide future research and investment towards minimising the negative impacts of droughts when they inevitably occur in the PICTs.

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“…Swamp taro is salt susceptible and increased soil salinity can adversely affect growth. In Tuvalu, saltwater intrusion in pulaka pits particularly in areas frequented by king tides increases the salinity of freshwater lenses, causing yellowing and even rotting of tubers, often resulting in the abandonment of pits (Freeman et al 2012 ; Iese et al 2020 ; Webb 2006 ). Atolls where pit and swamp cultivation of taro is a common farming system, specifically face severe problems due to changes in water quality and saltwater intrusion increasing the salinity of freshwater lenses.…”

Section: Impacts Of Climate Change On Some Major Pacific Crops and Brmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nutritional deficiencies are exacerbated under high soil salinity due to decreased uptake of nutrients, and competition of Na + and Cl − ions with macronutrients: N, P, K + , Ca 2+ and micronutrients: Fe, Mn and Zn (Hussain et al 2017 ). In Nataleira village of Fiji, a major rice growing area, decline in rice yield due to rising sea levels, storm surges and saltwater intrusion has resulted in the abandonment of rice farming (Iese et al 2020 ). Optimum temperature for rice cultivation ranges between 27 and 32 °C, beyond which significant yield reduction takes place due to spikelet sterility in the grain filling period (Korres et al 2017 ; Thuy and Saitoh 2017 ; Yang et al 2017 ).…”

Section: Impacts Of Climate Change On Some Major Pacific Crops and Brmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unlocking the inherent potential of plant genetic resources: food security and climate adaptation strategy in Fiji and the Pacific

Palanivel

Shah

2021

Environ Dev Sustain

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Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are the center of origin and diversity for several root, fruit and nut crops, which are indispensable for food security, rural livelihoods, and cultural identity of local communities. However, declining genetic diversity of traditional food crops and high vulnerability to climate change are major impediments for maintaining agricultural productivity. Limited initiatives to achieve food self-sufficiency and utilization of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for enhancing resilience of agro-ecosystems are other serious constraints. This review focuses on the visible and anticipated impacts of climate ge, on major food and tree crops in agriculture and agroforestry systems in the PICs. We argue that crop improvement through plant breeding is a viable strategy to enhance food security and climatic resilience in the region. The exploitation of adaptive traits: abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, yield and nutritional efficiency, is imperative in a world threatened by climatic extremes. However, the insular constraints of Fiji and other small PICs are major limitations for the utilization of PGR through high throughput techniques which are also cost prohibitive. Crop Improvement programs should instead focus on the identification, conservation, documentation and dissemination of information on unique landraces, community seed banks, introduction of new resistant genotypes, and sustaining and enhancing allelic diversity.

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Agriculture Under a Changing Climate

Cited by 12 publications

References 12 publications

Religious and Cultural-Spiritual Attributions of Climate-Driven Changes on Food Production: A Case Study from North Malaita, Solomon Islands

Religious and Cultural-Spiritual Attributions of Climate-Driven Changes on Food Production: A Case Study from North Malaita, Solomon Islands

Historical and future drought impacts in the Pacific islands and atolls

Unlocking the inherent potential of plant genetic resources: food security and climate adaptation strategy in Fiji and the Pacific

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