For Vanuatu-based nutritionist, entrepreneur, and local food advocate Votausi Lucyann Mackenzie-Reur, economic migration and the rise of the tourist economy — as well as the growing availability of cheap imported foods — have had a major impact on food security in the island nation. She said many of her fellow Ni-Vanuatu have forgotten how to grow, cook, preserve, and consume local, Indigenous foods over the last 50 years.
“Food security, climate change, and biodiversity can all be tackled by promoting and advocating the use of local traditional foods,” Mackenzie-Reur said. “We don’t need science to tell us that the foods and diets that sustained us for centuries are better.”
In 1999, Mackenzie-Reur founded Lapita, originally a casual eatery that has since grown into a catering business based in the capital of Vila, selling local ingredients to restaurants, tourists, and resorts.
To address the social and cultural barriers that were preventing people from choosing, growing, and preserving local foods, in 2019 she became a co-host of “Pacific Island Food Revolution,” a television series supported by the Australian and New Zealand governments that is broadcast throughout the region, promoting the use of local ingredients through a friendly competition between aspiring Pacific chefs.
According to Mackenzie-Reur, the Vanuatu government is on board now too, promoting the use of local foods as a response to COVID-19 since an over-reliance on imports has become a clear social, health, and economic risk.
“In Vanuatu, if the ships stop coming for a month, a lot of people are going to starve because they rely on imported rice,” she said. “Now is the time that we need to focus on our production.”
Producing more local food connects to larger issues in the small island nation. Vanuatu is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, so food security increasingly means creating mechanisms to ensure that residents have access to food immediately after disaster hits — especially since climate change is expected to make such disasters more frequent and intense.
Building a local food economy, as Mackenzie-Reur is striving to do, and using initiatives to empower local food producers following a disaster are key to helping the country become more sustainable and secure after a challenging 2020.
Continue reading and explore the full visual story on the role of local Indigenous foods in building a sustainable future in Vanuatu.
Visit the Turning the Tide series for more coverage on climate change, resilience building, and innovative solutions in small island developing states. You can join the conversation using the hashtag #TurningtheTide.
About the author
Nithin Cocaexcinit
Nithin Coca is a Devex contributing reporter who focuses on social, economic, and environmental issues in developing countries, and has specific expertise in Southeast Asia.
