disasters and agriculture in the pacific islands - Pacific Disaster Net

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States. These countries have very limitedterrestrial resources but vast marine resources.Some earn meagre, but important, cash incomefrom copra. Others earn valuable foreignexchange from diversified agricultural exports,notably Cook Islands from papaya, Niue fromtaro, and Kiribati from seaweed. Overall,agriculture contributes most to subsistence andthus the survival of these countries. The levelof human development varies from very highin Palau, Niue, Cook Islands and Tuvalu, tomoderate in the other countries. Environmentalproblems facing these countries include sealevel rise, coastal erosion and, in some, rapidpopulation growth, factors that make these tinystates highly vulnerable to disasters.4. Countries where agriculture is of littleimportance: Nauru, American Samoa, Guam,and the Commonwealth of Northern MarianasBecause of the insignificance of theagricultural sector in these countries, they arenot included in this study.THE VULNERABILITY OF AGRICULTURE TONATURAL DISASTERSA number of studies have indicated therelatively high level of vulnerability of Pacificisland countries to natural disasters. Factorscontributing to this vulnerability are:the high impact of disastersproportionate to the size of thecountry;fragile island environments;scattered and isolated communities;urbanisation and populationconcentrations; andthe degradation of traditional copingmeasures 1 .To this list could be addedIncreasing environmentaldegradation.Evidence of the impact of natural disasters onthese economies can be gleaned from macroeconomicindicators such as GDP growthfollowing major cyclones. For example, forseveral years after Cyclone Uma in 1987,Vanuatu experienced a real growth rate of -9per cent. In Samoa, the twin cyclones of Ofaand Val led to real growth rates of -7.5 percent, 27.9 per cent, and -4.3 per cent in 1990,1991, and 1992 respectively. In Fiji, Benson(1997:59) concluded that severe naturaldisasters have caused substantial declines inGDP growth.Yet there remains a surprising resiliency inthese small economies to natural disasters,particularly cyclones. Nowhere is this moreevident than in Samoa. In the space of fiveyears, Samoa experienced two '100 year'cyclones and the loss, through disease, of thecountry's most important staple food and mainexport earner. For most countries this would bea disaster of catastrophic proportions. Theequivalent, perhaps, of a disease thateliminated most of Thailand's rice crop, or thepotato blight in Ireland last century. Yet Samoaexperienced no famine, export levels have beenrestored and economic activity is now buoyant,with real GDP growing 6.7 percent in 1996,being by far the best performance of anyPacific island country. The Samoan experienceis testimony to the 'hidden strength' of theseemingly weak Pacific island economies thatlies with their traditional food productionsystems.In examining the vulnerability of agriculture,this study considers three broad categories ofnatural disasters:1. volcanic eruptions;2. Biological disasters; especially theincursion of agricultural pests and diseases;and3. Environmental disasters.Physical natural disastersThe Pacific region's generally benign climate ispunctuated by climatic extremes in the form ofcyclones, floods and, more insidiously,drought. These extremes of climate have farreachingeffects on land-use patterns, andserious environmental consequences thatrequire proper land use planning and watershedmanagement. Chung (1996) summarised thephysical hazards affecting the region'sagricultural sector (Table 2). Those with widestimpact are cyclones, floods, and droughts. Insome locations, tsunami, landslides, volcaniceruptions, and frosts are significant hazards1 UNDHA, 1994:8
American Samoa Unincorporated US 240 61,100High islands with afewLimited. Some subsistence and a little marketgardening.Little subsistence base and environmentalCook Islands Self-governing in 180 19,000 High islands and Considerable. Main export earner. Subsistence is a Sea level rise and coastal erosion.atollsfree association with significant component of GDP.New Zealand"Federated States Self-governing in free 702 111,800 High islands with a fewDeforestation, land degradation, sea levelSome. Small export earnings, some domestic cashatollsrise,of Micronesia association with US income and some subsistence. and coastal erosion.French Polynesia Overseas territory of 3,521 222,300 High islandSome. Small export earnings, domestic cash incomeandMarine pollution, sea level rise, and coastalGuam Unincorporated US 549 145,400 Predominately atollsLimited. Some market gardening and a littlesubsistence.Little subsistence base and environmentalKiribati Independent state 726 83,400Considerable, especially for subsistence. CopraSea level rise, high population density andimportantAtolls for outer island cash income and some foreign growth. On main atolls, coastal erosion andlagoon pollution.Marshall Islands Self-governing 720 60,000Limited. Some subsistence and cash earned fromcopra.Sea level rise, coastal erosion and lagoonTable 1: A summary of Pacific island countries and territoriesCountry! Political status Land area Population Geographic type Importance of agricultural sector Main environmental issuesTerritory (sq.km) (1997 est.)territory atolls problems associated with urbanisationFiji Islands Independent state 18,376 779,200 High islands and atolls Fundamental. Main employer and net foreign Land degradation, over-exploitation ofearner. Subsistence provides a significant proportion of resources, urban pollution and associatedGDP. problems with urbanisation.France subsistence. erosion.territory problems associated with urbanisation.republic in free pollution; problems associated withassociation with the Raised coral island , population density and growth; andUS effects of nuclear testing.Complete loss of arable land andNauru Independent state 21 11,200 High island Insignificant.subsistencebase.New Caledonia Overseas territory of 19,103 201,300 Geographic type Important, particularly in the south. Land degradation, pollution from miningandFrance problems associated with urbanisation.
Page 1: DISASTERS ANDISBN: 982-364-006-8AGR
Page 5 and 6: List of MapsMap1 The Region........
Page 7 and 8: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSNumerous people con
Page 9 and 10: The Pacific island region is a regi
Page 11: 1. DISASTERS AND PACIFIC ISLAND AGR
Page 17 and 18: CyclonesCyclones are the most promi
Page 19 and 20: to the drought but exact numbers we
Page 21 and 22: holdings in the “renovation” of
Page 23: 2. DISASTERS AND AGRICULTURE IN POL
Page 26 and 27: that Samoans maintained subsistence
Page 28 and 29: copra and husked nuts at this price
Page 30 and 31: place, i.e. taro at about 6-7 month
Page 32 and 33: cocoa 35 . Only 2 tonnes of dried c
Page 34 and 35: the country lost its main food and
Page 36 and 37: A major export industry that was ge
Page 38 and 39: 4. 5.
Page 40 and 41: Table 10: Kadavu land-use and farm
Page 42 and 43: Table 12: Kadavu Copra Production:
Page 44 and 45: there had been a more adequate and
Page 46 and 47: \the soil and vegetation complex, c
Page 51 and 52: Together, this has limited the scop
Page 53 and 54: household, calculated to be one mon
Page 55 and 56: Table 15 ... continuedCyclone Date
Page 57: Table 19: Projected short-fall in t
Page 61 and 62: production of 35 to 50 percent 78 a
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Subsistence crops in the form of co
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food garden (in their first second
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eappear to fruit within six months.
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Cattle-rearing is perhaps the most
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Table 22: Damage Caused by Cyclone
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Table 23: Cyclones, copra, and econ
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)Samoa. Sufficient knowledge and pr
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Fergus, the NDMO made the unprecede
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5. DISASTERS AND AGRICULTURE ON ATO
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THE GEOGRAPHY OF TUVALU: ASUMMARYc)
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Table 27: The coconut and its uses
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Funafuti, Nukufetau and Nanumea, su
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than 500 tops per person which undo
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ecause of the high, brackish water
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marked disparities, with no rationa
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Table 29: The susceptibility of Pac
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Table 30: The susceptibility of Pac
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No major pest orSugar The crop, nat
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Planners' targets were unrealistica
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THE COST OF DISASTERS TO THEAGRICUL
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Table 34: Results of regressions to
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a more ill-conceived crop choice ba
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equivalent to about 11 per cent of
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7. RECOMMENDATIONS ON COST-EFFECTIV
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approximately equivalent to that of
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Table 39: An indicative budget for
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impacts are often correlated with,
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Hazard information needs to incorpo
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cost- effective to invest several m
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with adequate resources for its rap
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costs where the steeplands meet the
Page 128:
Development Bank, Manila.Twyford 1.
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