Assessing rural household's food groups-and-sources and dietary diversity pattern in Malaita Province.

Access to and availability of various food sources is not an issue in rural communities. However, there is no guarantee that households are not affected by nutritional inadequacy, which is still a problem in most underdeveloped nations. A mixed-methods study was conducted to determine the HDDS through the snowballing method for the last 12 months' food groups-and-sources and the 48-h diet recall. Ninety-eight households in two rural communities surrounding Sikwafta (zone one) and Malu'u (zone two) participated in the interview between April and May 2019. The results were then analyzed through SPSS and QDA MINER. The aim is to analyze the household dietary patterns of the communities between the two zones. The study also hypothesizes that the dietary pattern of households has not changed. Results showed that a total of nine food groups were consumed: grain, white roots, tubers, plantains, oils/fats (95.90%), condiments (83.70%), and meat/poultry/sea foods (77.60%). The majority of the food consumed comes from the gardens, followed by other food sources, which make up the average HDDS of five. A correlation analysis found a statistically significant relationship between HDDS and total meal (0.504*), with no relationships between demographics. When comparing 48-h food sources-and-groups to the previous year, there was little to no difference in accessibility and availability. This implies that the majority of households are likely to achieve their nutritional needs within the parameters of their dietary trend. Even though households have adequate access to food, there is a significant need to improve their nutritional needs, even if they consume the average amount of the required food groups.

Perspectives on strengthening local food systems in Small Island Developing States.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share high burdens of nutrition-related conditions, including non-communicable diseases, associated with an increasing reliance on imported, processed foods. Improving health through increasing the production and consumption of local, nutritious foods is a policy objective of many SIDS governments. This study aimed to understand contemporary challenges and opportunities to strengthening local food systems in two case study settings, Fiji and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Fifty-two in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in local food production. Interviews were analysed by both country teams using thematic analysis. Local food production networks in both settings included formal governance bodies as well as more informal connections through civil society and communities. Their main function was the sharing of resources and knowledge, but levels of trust and cooperation between the stakeholders varied in a market open to intense competition from imports. Local food production was hindered by few and slow investments by local governments, dated technology, and lack of knowledge. Stakeholders believed this marginalisation was occurring against a background of rising preferences for imported foods in the population, and increasing disinterest in employment in the sector. Despite the challenges, strong narratives of resilience and opportunity were highlighted such as national pride in local produce for commercialisation and local diets. Efforts to support local food production in SIDS should focus on strengthening governance structures to prioritise local produce over corporate and import markets, assist collaboration and co-learning, and support alternative agro-food practices. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12571-022-01281-0.

Blue carbon storage in Fijian seagrass meadows: First insights into carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content from a tropical southwest Pacific Island.

Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services which include the accumulation and storage of carbon and nutrients in sediments and biomass. Despite their importance in climate change mitigation and adaptation, seagrass ecosystems have been poorly studied, particularly in the Pacific. Therefore, the present study assessed variability in sedimentary and vegetative C, N and P storage in three monospecific seagrass meadows (Halophila ovalis, Halodule pinifolia and Halodule uninervis), reporting baseline data for the first time. Sediment Corg stocks ranged from 31 to 47 Mg C ha-1 and varied (p < 0.001) between seagrass meadows, unvegetated areas and locations. Comparison of N and P storage between vegetated meadows and unvegetated areas revealed differences (p < 0.05); implying seagrass meadows function as C, N and P sinks. Differences in species composition and environmental conditions, may play a key role in estimating C, N and P stocks, which are valuable data for conservation and monitoring of seagrass ecosystems.

"We used to get food from the garden." Understanding changing practices of local food production and consumption in small island states.

Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) lead global rates in obesity and non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs). Drivers for this are complex and include lack of food sovereignty, evidenced by an increasing reliance on cheap nutrient-poor food imports and a focus on export orientated cash crop production for much local agriculture. To better inform SIDS' policy goals of improving nutrition through increased local food production, we explored in two SIDS current practices of food production and consumption. Teams of researchers from the two main regional universities conducted 28 focus groups in Fiji in the Pacific and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean with rural and urban communities of different socio-economic or land-owning status. In both countries home gardens were still common, valued as providing staple foods to households and contributing to health and livelihoods. Yet social changes had been experienced over the life course and across generations, such as increased purchase of foods, consumption of processed and often imported foods, and fast foods. While participants associated local foods with better nutrition and health outcomes than imported foods, some local foods were also acknowledged as unhealthy (e.g. locally produced tinned products, pesticide contaminated fresh produce). Finally, as food and related health advice moves globally, crossing national boundaries, and through formal and informal channels, local experiences can be confusing and contested. We suggest the need to understand temporal and spatial aspects of social practices, as social practices and their meaning change over time, travel globally and are experienced locally. To enhance and support re-localising food to counteract unhealthy consumption of ultra-processed, shop-bought, often imported foods, it is vital to understand these lived experiences of changes and resulting uncertainties, and to explicitly build on the longstanding positive relationships that people continue to express about home gardens and local food.

Trace metal content in sediment cores and seagrass biomass from a tropical southwest Pacific Island.

A unique feature of seagrass among other ecosystem services is to have high phytoremediation potential that is a cost-effective plant-based approach and environmentally friendly solution for metal contamination in coastal areas. The goal of this study was to assess the phytoremediation prospective of seagrass for Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in Fiji Islands. Heavy metal content was measured in sediments and tissues of the seagrasses Halophila ovalis, Halodule pinifolia and Halodule uninervis to test for local-scale differences. The local study shows that metal concentration in sediment and seagrass tissue was significantly variable, regardless of species and sediment type. Sedimentary concentration of Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn obtained in the present study seemed to be lower than that of previous studies. The results support that H. ovalis is a good bioindicator species since it accumulated up to 5-fold more of these metals compared to the Halodule species.

Impacts of COVID-19 on agriculture and food systems in Pacific Island countries (PICs): Evidence from communities in Fiji and Solomon Islands.

CONTEXT: COVID-19 mitigation measures including border lockdowns, social distancing, de-urbanization and restricted movements have been enforced to reduce the risks of COVID-19 arriving and spreading across PICs. To reduce the negative impacts of COVID-19 mitigation measures, governments have put in place a number of interventions to sustain food and income security. Both mitigation measures and interventions have had a number of impacts on agricultural production, food systems and dietary diversity at the national and household levels. OBJECTIVE: Our paper conducted an exploratory analysis of immediate impacts of both COVID-19 mitigation measures and interventions on households and communities in PICs. Our aim is to better understand the implications of COVID-19 for PICs and identify knowledge gaps requiring further research and policy attention. METHODS: To understand the impacts of COVID-19 mitigation measures and interventions on food systems and diets in PICs, 13 communities were studied in Fiji and Solomon Islands in July-August 2020. In these communities, 46 focus group discussions were carried out and 425 households were interviewed. Insights were also derived from a series of online discussion sessions with local experts of Pacific Island food and agricultural systems in August and September 2020. To complement these discussions, an online search was conducted for available literature. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Identified impacts include: 1) Reduced agricultural production, food availability and incomes due to a decline in local markets and loss of access to international markets; 2) Increased social conflict such as land disputes, theft of high-value crops and livestock, and environmental degradation resulting from urban-rural migration; 3) Reduced availability of seedlings, planting materials, equipment and labour in urban areas; 4) Reinvigoration of traditional food systems and local food production; and 5) Re-emergence of cultural safety networks and values, such as barter systems. Households in rural and urban communities appear to have responded positively to COVID-19 by increasing food production from home gardens, particularly root crops, vegetables and fruits. However, the limited diversity of agricultural production and decreased household incomes are reducing the already low dietary diversity score that existed pre-COVID-19 for households. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings have a number of implications for future policy and practice. Future interventions would benefit from being more inclusive of diverse partners, focusing on strengthening cultural and communal values, and taking a systemic and long-term perspective. COVID-19 has provided an opportunity to strengthen traditional food systems and re-evaluate, re-imagine and re-localize agricultural production strategies and approaches in PICs.

Food Sources and Dietary Quality in Small Island Developing States: Development of Methods and Policy Relevant Novel Survey Data from the Pacific and Caribbean.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have high and increasing rates of diet-related diseases. This situation is associated with a loss of food sovereignty and an increasing reliance on nutritionally poor food imports. A policy goal, therefore, is to improve local diets through improved local production of nutritious foods. Our aim in this study was to develop methods and collect preliminary data on the relationships between where people source their food, their socio-demographic characteristics and dietary quality in Fiji and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in order to inform further work towards this policy goal. We developed a toolkit of methods to collect individual-level data, including measures of dietary intake, food sources, socio-demographic and health indicators. Individuals aged ≥15 years were eligible to participate. From purposively sampled urban and rural areas, we recruited 186 individuals from 95 households in Fiji, and 147 individuals from 86 households in SVG. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to investigate associations. The mean dietary diversity score, out of 10, was 3.7 (SD1.4) in Fiji and 3.8 (SD1.5) in SVG. In both settings, purchasing was the most common way of sourcing food. However, 68% (Fiji) and 45% (SVG) of participants regularly (>weekly) consumed their own produce, and 5% (Fiji) and 33% (SVG) regularly consumed borrowed/exchanged/bartered food. In regression models, independent positive associations with dietary diversity (DD) were: borrowing/exchanging/bartering food (ß = 0.73 (0.21, 1.25)); age (0.01 (0.00, 0.03)); and greater than primary education (0.44 (0.06, 0.82)). DD was negatively associated with small shop purchasing (-0.52 (95% CIs -0.91, -0.12)) and rural residence (-0.46 (-0.92, 0.00)). The findings highlight associations between dietary diversity and food sources and indicate avenues for further research to inform policy actions aimed at improving local food production and diet.