Overview
This project analysed Pacific agri-food systems to characterise Pacific agri-food systems, recommend actions to improve local food environments and support national policies to promote healthier, more diverse diets for people.
Per capita, agricultural and coastal fisheries production is declining, and imports of unhealthy foods are increasing. A transformation from mostly domestically produced fruits and vegetables, including root crops, fish, and invertebrates, to dependence on imported cereals, meat, and highly processed foods has contributed to significant non-communicable disease challenges across the region. By design, the project was a mix of strategic national and household-scale analyses of food system dynamics, policy and governance analysis, and a field component that allowed gendered analysis of food environments and diets.
The research identified challenges and opportunities for action for food systems in the region related to promoting healthy food supply, addressing food pricing and access (particularly during the pandemic), and strengthening governance and implementation to improve economic, nutritional and environmental outcomes of food systems.
The project developed new methods and created and curated 3 significant regional databases that enable analyses of food system dynamics and the development of food security and development baselines. It also developed a food environment typology for the Pacific based on sources of food acquisition in the Solomon Islands.
Through an analysis of the Solomon Islands' national food system; the first of its kind in the Pacific, 3 key pathways for food system change were recognised: (1) strengthen and connect the rural food system; (2) strengthen the national policy environment; and (3) advocate for food environments that make healthy food more accessible, affordable, and convenient. These pathways are centred on different scales (provincial, national inward-looking and national outward-looking) but overlap and interact in important ways.
Many activities begun in this project will continue in the next phase (FIS/2022/121). This next phase will also see a return to the field through an important local-scale pathway for change focused on food environments with different attributes.
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