1.    What does food security mean?

We are using the FAO definition:

"Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life."

It includes food availability, food accessibility, food safety and nutritional quality.

2.    What factors influence food security?

Public policies – agriculture, fisheries, planning, transport, employment, social security, trade, pricing, advertising, media etc

Food availability – food grown and associated land, tools, seed, fertilizer, food harvested food imported, food in shops, availability of food outside home, impact of climate change/sea levels

Food access – access to shops, access to land, access to fish, cost of boats, transport, storage capacity, availability of money to buy, cost of food

Nutrition - quality and safety of food, comparative availability and accessibility of poorly nutritious food, personal choices, over-eating of calorie dense food

3.    Why is there a need for a Framework for Action on Food Security?

Pacific  Island countries and areas are being adversely affected by a global financial crisis, climate change, increasing food insecurity and the growing double burden of undernutrition and non-communicable diseases.

The global influences are increasing food prices, exacerbating an already heavy reliance on imported and processed foods, and contributing to the loss of local harvesting, production and cultural knowledge. In addition, they also create uncertainty around food supply.

As a consequence, Pacific populations are at greater risk of malnutrition, foodborne diseases and non-communicable disease (NCD) than many other countries and areas in the world.

A Framework for Action will help create an integrated approach to assure food security through the development and implementation of food security and trade policies and plans of action.

A Framework for Action will also focus Forum island Leaders’ attention on a new approach to respond to the challenge which, while affirming existing efforts to increase agricultural productivity, to enhance access to food, and to bring about behaviour change on diet and physical activity, will focus on innovative approaches to production, processing, regulating and trading of food.

It will also help strengthen Pacific economies and shield against future food crises.

4.    Why do we need a Regional approach?

A regional approach is needed to address what is a regional problem – climate/imports/NCDs etc

Countries can learn from each other

A harmonized approach to regulations and their enforcement means the Pacific can exert greater market pressure on food businesses and can facilitate trade

It will help identify opportunities for sharing resources (eg laboratory analysis) across the Pacific

5.    What is our mandate for action?

A meeting of Ministers of Health, held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, in 2007 identified the need to apply a “whole-of-society” approach to NCD prevention and control; the need for a regional approach to food fortification and called for a Food Summit with representatives from Health, Agriculture, Trade and Finance.

39th Pacific Islands Leaders’ Forum, held in Niue in August 2008, "acknowledged the high importance of food security as an emerging issue. The Leaders committed their Governments to immediate action to address food security issues nationally and where possible, regionally, through a range of measures across key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, trade and transport".

The Ministers of Agriculture meeting, held in Niue, 2009, supported future action on food security and acknowledged the benefit of a Pacific Food Summit in 2010.

The Ministers of Trade, June, 2009, noted developments relating to the issue of food security within the region; and endorsed the concept of convening a regional Food Summit in 2010, supported by food summits convened at a national level.

Heads of CROP organisations met in Honiara, Solomon Islands in June 2009 and agreed to present the proposed 2010 Pacific Food Summit to Forum Leaders at the meeting in Cairns in August 2009 for both acknowledgement and endorsement.

6.    What are our overall objectives?

Getting government and industry commitment to:

Ensuring continued food security in safe foods for a nutritionally adequate diet

Achieving and maintaining health and nutritional well-being of all Pacific people

Achieving environmentally sound and socially sustainable agricultural development to contribute to improved nutrition and health in a changing world

Facilitating trade in and marketing of safe and nutritious food

7.    What outcomes are expected from the Forum leaders meeting on the issue?

The expected outcomes would be that Forum island Leaders have engaged in dialogue and:

Recognized the increasing magnitude of food insecurity nationally and throughout the Pacific;

Acknowledged the importance of taking a Pacific-wide approach to enhancing food security;

Committed to addressing the issues regionally in a fully integrated multisectoral manner through public-private partnership;

Agreed on practical and achievable strategies for food security, for the prevention of NCDs and micronutrient deficiencies; and for facilitating trade in and marketing of safe and nutritious food;

Established a collective approach for accelerating the management and control of these issues; and

Identified resources for implementing strategies through increasing budgetary allocations; a commitment from development banks and other potential partners; and/or more private sector investment.

8.    What are some of the strategies being considered?

Several strategies related to enhancing agricultural productivity including going local and being sustainable and responding to climate change.

A regulatory and enforcement approach to food, trade and health to better address micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases in the Pacific

Industry adding health value to food in the Pacific

Strengthened food and nutrition monitoring capacity in PICTs

Strengthened leadership and governance of food security matters in the Pacific

Generate resources from public and private sources, official development assistance and international financial institutions

9.    When will the final strategies be available?

Strategies were finalized at the Pacific Food Summit with input from all key stakeholders in the Pacific. A final copy of the framework for action will be available on the website soon.

10.    Can non-forum countries and areas participate in the process?

While it is planned that the Framework for action will be endorsed at the forum leaders’ meeting in 2010, all Pacific countries and areas will be actively engaged in the process of finalizing the Framework for Action. Where appropriate non-forum Countries are encouraged to engage with Forum Island Countries to take action.

11.    Does WTO membership compromise a countries ability to promote and protect health?

WTO’s SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) and TBT (technical barriers to trade) agreements provide the guidance to countries that allow them to take appropriate measures for protecting human, animal and plant health.  Basically such measures should be applied equitably to both imported and domestically produced food and should be limited to measures absolutely necessary for protecting the health of the population

To ban a product such as turkey tails a country would need to apply the ban to both domestically produced and imported food and also be able to demonstrate that by banning them, human health will be impacted positively based upon a scientific risk assessment.

12.    Can PICTs apply tarrifs to better regulate the flow of fatty foods and other unhealthy foods into the Pacific?

A country can raise its "applied" tariff on a given product (for whatever reason) as long as the new level does not exceed its legally "bound" tariff under the WTO.

13.    Which Pacific Countries are WTO members?

Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga

Countries with Observer status include Samoa and Vanuatu.

14.    What can we do to better address the impact of climate change on food security?

Efforts need to be made from an agriculture perspective to adjust cropping and livestock practices, to give attention to sustaining fisheries resources and to mitigate impacts on shipping.  From a health perspective we need to pay attention to the impact on safety and quality of food and to monitor human health consequences of food insecurity.

15.    We should support locally grown food campaigns not focus on fortification.

We should do both as fortification can help address vitamin and mineral deficiencies with a relatively quick impact and encouraging and supporting local production will achieve longer term health outcomes.

16.    How can you say the Pacific is food insecure when we face an epidemic of obesity?

If we go back to the FAO definition it is possible to see how food insecurity and obesity can co-exist.  Reduced land for food, urban drift, reducing reef fish numbers, and limited time to raise and prepare local foods all place greater emphasis on imported food high in salt, fat and sugar.  Thus food insecurity occurs because many imported foods have limited nutritional value - nutrition security may not be achieved.

17.    How can we get industry to add health value to food?

We need to use multiple approaches - engaging industry in dialogue, introducing and bringing clarity to regulations, enforcement of regulations, and encouraging voluntary action

Also, increasing consumer driven demand for healthy products and encouraging a regionally harmonized approach will make the Pacific market more attractive for industry to add health value.

18.    What is PICTA?

Trade liberalisation is a key component of the Forum Island Countries’ (FICs) strategies for economic development, sustainability and regional integration and is identified as a priority in the Pacific Plan.

Current initiatives include the regional trade agreements, PICTA and PACER, negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and decisions by some FICs to seek membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

PICTA can be seen as providing a Forum-wide foundation for the gradual and beneficial embrace of trade liberalisation. It offers a framework for the development of trade among and between the FICs helps to build national capacity in implementing trade agreements and fosters regional cooperation.

19.    What other trade agreements are in place in the Pacific?

The Melanesian Spearhead Group Trade Agreement (MSG-TA) was signed in 1993 and covers Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

Home | About FSP | Food Summit | How You Can Help | Events | Resources | Media | FAQs | Contact Us