How Much Do You Know about Small Island Nations?

Human Wrongs Watch

5 facts on food security and nutrition in Small Island Developing States.

3. Increasing employment opportunities

By supporting local industries, SIDS can fightpoverty and decrease unemployment, the main constraints to accessing food. For example, in Jamaica, the production of ginger, despite being a high-value crop, has decreased because of ginger rhizome rot (GRR) disease, persistent droughts, fragmented coordination and lack of updated policies.

To revitalize the industry, FAO supported the Government in developing an Action Plan for upgrading the ginger value chain. FAO also provided guidance on the governance and management of the value chain and strengthened technical capacities for implementation of the strategy to create sustainable “GRR-free” ginger production and expanded market opportunities.

4. Preserving forests by promoting sustainable practices

Forests host the vast majority of terrestrial biodiversity in SIDS. Papua New Guinea is home to the third largest tropical rainforest in the world. These forests are still a main source of livelihoods, nutrition and medicine for the majority of the population of Papua New Guinea, whose societies are predominantly traditional.

Yet, increasingly, deforestation, conversion to farmland and logging-related degradation have put these forests under threat. FAO is working with the National Forestry authority to upgrade a Logging Code of Practice, as well as to establish a National Forestry Monitoring System.

5. Helping communities recover from and be more resilient to natural disasters 

Extreme events are increasing with climate change. This means that the focus needs to be on making livelihoods, particularly agriculture-based ones, more resilient. This is especially true for island states, which are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events.

In 2017, Hurricane Maria severely damaged the agriculture sector of Dominica, directly affecting income, food and nutrition security for a large percentage of the island’s population.

Following the hurricane, FAO provided technical assistance to rehabilitate their agriculture sector and assisted the Ministries of Agriculture in Dominica and the other countries affected to mobilize resources.

In 2014, governments adopted the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (S.A.M.O.A) Pathway that highlights food security and nutrition and their interplay with climate change and other sustainable development challenges.

One outcome of this framework was the creation of the Global Action Programme (GAP) on Food Security and Nutrition in the SIDS, produced by FAO and other partners. FAO continues to support SIDS with policy advice, analysis and technical assistance to enable the development of more sustainable and resilient food.

Finding solutions to climate change and securing access to healthy diets in the SIDS means finding solutions that would work worldwide.  We need to act on our shared responsibility in implementing the 2030 Agenda, especially that of achieving #ZeroHunger, and supporting SIDS, who in some cases have their very existence threatened.

*SOURCE: FAO. Go to ORIGINAL.