Table of Contents
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Table of Contents Page List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... xi Abbreviations and Acronyms .................................................................................................. xiii Foreword .................................................................................................................................. xv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. xvii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ xix 1. Study Objectives and Background 1.1 Objectives of the study ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Location ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Population ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2.3 Climate ............................................................................................................. 3 1.2.4 Soils, vegetation and land use .......................................................................... 3 1.2.5 Economy .......................................................................................................... 4 1.2.6 Labour force ..................................................................................................... 5 2. Factors Influencing National and Provincial Food Security 2.1 Food demand ............................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Nutritional and health status ..................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 Trends in nutritional status................................................................................ 7 2.2.2 Health indicators ............................................................................................... 8 2.3 Impacts of natural calamities on food security ......................................................... 9 2.3.1 Physical natural disasters ................................................................................. 9 2.3.2 Biological disasters .......................................................................................... 11 2.3.3 Environmental disasters .................................................................................... 11 3. Food Availability and Utilization 3.1 Local food production .............................................................................................. 13 3.2 Food marketing and distribution ............................................................................... 14 3.2.1 Markets for locally produced food crops .......................................................... 14 3.2.2 Fisheries domestic market................................................................................. 15 3.3 Assessing the food balance situation in Fiji .............................................................. 16 3.3.1 Preparation of food balance sheets .................................................................. 16 3.4 Food imports ............................................................................................................. 17 3.5 Empirical evidence on food supply from food balance sheets ................................. 18 3.5.1 Total nutrient availability.................................................................................. 18 3.5.2 Availability of energy from major food sources in 1996.................................. 18 4. Institutional Policies 4.1 General policy approach ........................................................................................... 23 4.2 Government agricultural policy reforms ................................................................... 23 4.2.1 Era of protection and government-led development......................................... 23 4.2.2 Impetus for deregulation................................................................................... 24 4.2.3 Industry effects of deregulation ....................................................................... 24 v 4.3 Commodity orientation of the current agricultural development programme ........... 26 4.4 Food production policy ............................................................................................. 27 4.5 Crop research ............................................................................................................ 28 4.6 Crop extension .......................................................................................................... 29 4.7 Animal health and production ................................................................................... 29 4.8 Fisheries policy ......................................................................................................... 29 5. National Risk-Coping Systems 5.1 Increasing food security through poverty alleviation ................................................ 31 5.2 Agricultural development to enhance food security ................................................. 32 5.2.1 Potential for development of the agricultural, fisheries and forest sector ........ 32 5.2.2 Agricultural and food exports .......................................................................... 35 5.2.3 Agricultural support services ........................................................................... 39 5.2.4 Agricultural product marketing policies .......................................................... 40 5.3 Activities of the National Food and Nutrition Committee ........................................ 42 5.4 Food security and nutrition surveillance ................................................................... 43 5.5 Mitigating the impacts on food security of natural disasters .................................... 45 6. Household and Individual Food Security 6.1 The key role of the family in ensuring food security in Fiji ..................................... 47 6.2 Household food availability ...................................................................................... 47 6.2.1 Overview .......................................................................................................... 47 6.2.2 Key role of women in maintaining household food security ........................... 48 6.2.3 Quality versus quantity in household food availability .................................... 48 6.2.4 Effects of the 1997-98 drought on household food availability and nutritional status ............................................................................................... 49 6.3 Gaining food entitlements ......................................................................................... 50 6.4 Household food utilization ....................................................................................... 51 6.5 Household risk-coping systems ................................................................................ 52 7. Policy, Information and Research Implications 7.1 Reconciling export-oriented agricultural commercialization with the maintenance of food security .................................................................................... 57 7.1.1 A continuing need for agricultural policy reform ............................................. 57 7.1.2 Strategic focus to expand niche market exports and increase traditional crop production ............................................................................... 57 7.1.3 Information, monitoring, and policy formulation ............................................ 59 7.1.4 Creating an environment for private sector development ................................ 60 7.2 The social commitment ............................................................................................. 60 7.3 Sustainable land management and food security ...................................................... 62 7.4 Financing agricultural development .......................................................................... 63 7.5 Promoting agribusiness investment and the use of agricultural inputs ..................... 64 8. Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................... 65 9. Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 71 vi Appendices 1. Compilation of Food Balance Sheets for Fiji ............................................................. 75 2. Crop Production Sector .............................................................................................. 85 3. Livestock Production Sector ....................................................................................... 93 4. Fishery Production Sector .......................................................................................... 99 5. Analysis of Crop, Fish and Livestock Prices in Local Markets, January-July 2000 ......................................................................................................