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CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SECURITY IN PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIESsince declined and understandably, farmers are now reluctant to reinvest in thesecommodities. Under these circumstances, government was left with two importantchallenges to either (i) continue efforts to increase agricultural production or(ii) increase food import. Government decided to tackle the first challenge andhas approached this by increasing efforts to improve productivity of householdfood gardens 68 percent of which were for subsistence only and the rest for saleand subsistence needs. According to the Agriculture Census (1999), 68 percentof the households grow coconut, 50 percent grow kava, 39 percent raise cattle,24 percent grow cocoa and 2 percent grow coffee. 61 percent of the householdsregularly go fishing. It can be seen from these statistics that the small farmersof Vanuatu play a very important role in food production and food security inthe country.The specific situation pertaining to the various sectors of the agricultureindustry is summarized in the following sections.CROPSThe majority of the rural population of Vanuatu is engaged in agriculturalproduction for subsistence with limited cash cropping. The main agriculturalproducts are copra, kava (Piper methysticum), cocoa, coffee, taro, yams, fruitsand vegetables. Low productivity and small holdings are identified as the keyconstraints towards expansion and commercialization of crop production inVanuatu. There is little incentive to enhance productivity through the use ofmodern methods and technology and to compound the problem changes inworld prices are also affecting this sector.While large commercial farms and plantations are making a significantcontribution to the cash economy of Vanuatu, approximately 80 percent of thepopulation reside in rural areas and depend on small agricultural plots for theirlivelihood. Productivity of these plots are however quite low and the challengefor the sector therefore is to increase productivity by introducing sustainable andaffordable management practices for traditional crops. Increasing the number ofsmall plots (i.e. getting more rural dwellers involved) is a strategy favored by theMinistry of Agriculture as opposed to increasing the sizes of existing farmlands.This is because most small farmers are isolated and separated from each other38