Climate change, agriculture and food security in the Pacific Islands

In the past three decades climate change has become one of the most important global challenges. The Small Island Developing States in the Pacific are severely exposed to the impacts of climate change although they did not contribute meaningful to the creation of the challenge. Although food security there is lesser an issue than in many countries of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean many assessments highlight that Pacific Island Countries (PICs) can become exposed to food crisis, especially in times of natural hazards and consequent disasters. Food systems have been changing in recent decades in many Pacific Island countries creating increasing vulnerabilities. The major process in place relate to the change from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture. People more often depend on food from the market and supermarket rather than from own gardens with a big variety of food crops. Re-search in communities in the Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands that had been exposed to severe disasters however reveal that food security had not been the major challenge during the disaster and in the rehabilitation process. There is much evidence that communities with support of governments and relief organizations have been able to avert food crises relating to these disasters. It was found that in particular social capital contributed to this resilience