RESUMEN
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.
RESUMEN
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.