Abstract:Using food regime analysis, this paper explores how neoliberal agricultural policies are affecting food sovereignty in Pacific Island countries ( pic s). The principles of food sovereignty are strongly rooted in Pacific Islands agricultural practices. However, under the corporate food regime, the locus of control for food security is shifting away from communities and the nation-state to the world market. It is argued that food sovereignty in the Pacific Islands is being undermined through membership in the Wo… Show more
“…A number of now well-known factors have posed problems for development in small island states, with a narrow resource base contributing to limited diversity of production and exports that in turn create problems for food security (Connell 2013). Yet such problems have been bound up in a series of food regimes that have constantly favoured export crops above domestic food production (Plahe et al 2013). Consequently, food security has worsened in the Pacific in recent decades because of falling food production per capita, low or absent growth in agricultural production, and increased and costly dependence on food imports (SPC 2011).…”
Food security in the Pacific, especially in Micronesia, has worsened in the past half century. Agriculture, fishing and local food production have declined, except in the most remote islands, especially in peri-urban environments. Diets have incorporated more processed and imported foods, because of prestige, accessibility, cost and convenience, at financial, social, environmental and nutritional cost to countries and households. Non-communicable diseases have grown rapidly throughout Micronesia. Household expenditure is dominated by imported foods, especially rice. Food security requires more adequate market access, but national resource bases are limited, and government intervention and policy formation are both weak and exhibit urban bias in unusually fragmented states. Climate change is likely to further hamper local food production. Household has negotiated multiple livelihoods across international boundaries with national and household incomes boosted by remittances, which may become a distinctive key to achieving improved health and nutritional status.
“…A number of now well-known factors have posed problems for development in small island states, with a narrow resource base contributing to limited diversity of production and exports that in turn create problems for food security (Connell 2013). Yet such problems have been bound up in a series of food regimes that have constantly favoured export crops above domestic food production (Plahe et al 2013). Consequently, food security has worsened in the Pacific in recent decades because of falling food production per capita, low or absent growth in agricultural production, and increased and costly dependence on food imports (SPC 2011).…”
Food security in the Pacific, especially in Micronesia, has worsened in the past half century. Agriculture, fishing and local food production have declined, except in the most remote islands, especially in peri-urban environments. Diets have incorporated more processed and imported foods, because of prestige, accessibility, cost and convenience, at financial, social, environmental and nutritional cost to countries and households. Non-communicable diseases have grown rapidly throughout Micronesia. Household expenditure is dominated by imported foods, especially rice. Food security requires more adequate market access, but national resource bases are limited, and government intervention and policy formation are both weak and exhibit urban bias in unusually fragmented states. Climate change is likely to further hamper local food production. Household has negotiated multiple livelihoods across international boundaries with national and household incomes boosted by remittances, which may become a distinctive key to achieving improved health and nutritional status.
“…Fundamentally, food production per capita has decreased across the Pacific (Campbell, ; Connell, ; Plahe et al ., ; SPC, ) due to the promotion of export‐driven agriculture (Thow et al ., ), urbanisation, a decline in agrobiodiversity and ecosystem functions (Thaman, ), along with a growing preference for imported foods and westernised diets (Gewertz and Errington, ; BBC, ), and a decline in the prestige of agricultural work (Connell, ). In the Pacific, there has been a dramatic increase in the dependence on imported food over traditional staples (Campbell, ; Connell, ; Murray, ; Plahe et al ., ; SPC, ; UNEP, ) and ‘ … this dependence has worsened under free‐trade policies …’ (Plahe et al ., : 323). Trauger () argues that theglobal circulation of commodities, such as rice or maize, reduces local prices, lowers farmers' incomes and ultimately undermines domestic production.…”
Section: Agriculture and Food Security In The Pacificmentioning
As part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, sustainable development goal 2 (SDG2) specifically seeks to ‘End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’. However, there is no clear prescription for how this goal should be achieved which allows various donors adopting diverse strategies to all claim they are contributing to SDG2. This article examines whether policies of five donors on food security and agriculture in the Pacific Islands region are likely to help to achieve SDG2. Fundamentally, the current and future wellbeing of many Pacific Island peoples, many of whom live on small, geographically dispersed islands with limited market access, is strongly tied to their abilities to produce food for themselves. This is somewhat overlooked by bilateral donors from Australia and New Zealand who invest relatively small amounts in the agriculture sector of Pacific countries and show little interest in supporting people's food security through local sourcing and production for subsistence. From an SDG2 perspective of ending hunger for all people, it is positive to see that, by contrast, two multilaterals have shown commitment to a more balanced and holistic approach to food production in the Pacific Islands region.
“…Maybe they are supposed to sell the land for "big fast-fast" development and just go to the store to get food or just live on cassava that will grow anywhere. Thus, the pressures on land and people's access to customary land intersects with wider debates in Pacific Island countries about food (in)security (Plahe, Hawkes, and Ponnamperuma 2013;Allen 2015;Campbell 2015) and nutrition (Pollock 1992;Lowitt and others 2015).…”
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