disasters and agriculture in the pacific islands - Pacific Disaster Net

materials can be prolonged by the application ofashes.There is considerable scope in Vanuatu foradopting appropriate 'non-traditional' foodpreservation techniques. Vanuatu is already aleader in using basic food processing techniques topreserve nuts and fruits, particularly through theefforts of Mr. Charles Long Wah of the Kava Storein Port Vila. Using his revenues from kavawholesaling, the Kava Store has developedcommercially viable processing and packaging forindigenous nuts and other fruit, vegetable, andspice products. Within the region, the Kava Storehas become a showpiece for small-scaleprocessing 110 . Long Wah's techniques arereplicable at the village level as they are based onthe principle of using only a 'pot and woodenspoon' and the products can be stored in sterilisedglass bottles. Long Wah has run numerous trainingprogrammes to teach village people how to processproducts like tomatoes, but the uptake has beenlimited. To be effective, these training programmesneed to be re-enforced by simple illustrativeposters. The basis for promoting this type of foodpreservation should be to add dietary variety,create household income opportunities, and savehousehold income. A spinoff benefit would bebetter food security and disaster mitigation.DISASTER RELIEF AND REHABILITATIONPROGRAMMES AND THEIR IMPACT ONAGRICULTUREFrom colonial times, cyclone relief andrehabilitation programmes were mounted aftermajor cyclones. Due to Vanuatu's uniquedonors. The ni-Vanuatu populations beingsubstantial rice consumers, these donations havebeen gratefully received even if well in excess ofsurvival requirements. Rehabilitation included thedistribution of kumala tops and imported maizeseed, with Department of Agriculture field staffproviding crop loss assessments upon whichrations were distributed.A public service strike in 1993, and subsequentstaff dismissals, had a crippling effect on theefficiency of government services. Thisparticularly affected disaster relief andrehabilitation services to agriculture. TheAgriculture Department lost most of its trained andexperienced staff, including the officer nowresponsible for the VANGO Disaster PreparednessProject.The present disaster management institutionalstructure originated from the Barr Report, preparedby AIDAB in 1990. NGOs play a key role in thestructure recently developed by the NationalDisaster Management Committee (NDMC). ANational Disaster Management Office (NDMO)serves as a standing secretariat for the NDMC. TheNDMC is made up of the First Secretary of HomeAffairs, the Commander of the Mobile Force of theDefence Force, the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice, nominated representatives of the provincialgovernments, and nominated NGO representatives.The NGO Co-ordinator is an experiencedagriculturist whose main responsibility has been toimplement a Disaster Preparedness Project fundedby AusAid, a project which holds workshops inrural areas on traditional mitigation practices,including cropping systems and food preservation.Condominium status, (administered by bothBritain and France) these efforts tended to bepoorly co-ordinated, leaving the villages to theirtraditional disaster mitigation devices. InSelf reliance, dependency, and back to self relianceretrospect, this might have not been a bad thing,for it may explain the higher degree of selfrelianceapparent in Vanuatu compared with mostother Pacific island countries. After Independencein 1980, Vanuatu developed its own integrateddisaster management institutional structure, whichhas mainly functioned as part of the Police Force.The emphasis has been almost exclusively oncyclones with relief programmes for agricultureand food security focusing on distributing foodrations (principally rice) that have been suppliedby aidTo recognise the disaster problem as part oftotal government responsibility and to make thebest possible arrangements to deal with it;To recognise the disaster management phasesof prevention, preparedness, response, andrecovery as essential ingredients for nationaldevelopment; andTo develop an attitude of self help within thecommunity through public education andawareness programmes.110 ADB, 1997:156The NDMO recognises that some food rationdistribution programmes in the past haveundermined self-reliance and the peoples' ability todeal with natural disasters. In the case of Cyclone