Pacific crop centre develops food strategies for climate change

Severe weather patterns and cyclonic activity have become increasingly hyperactive in the South Pacific with climate change as the key contributor. Communities are faced with the destruction of food crops and are left suffering from food scarcity and malnutrition. WebThe Pacific Media Centre team in Fiji was granted access to propagation projects at the Pacific Community (SPC) and its Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees in Suva (CePaCT). Here the issue of climate effects on food sources are being addressed by researchers developing strategies for rapid plant growth and climate resistant crops.  When we arrived at the centre, busy white-coated lab assistants were counting and double-checking more than 1000 banana, sweet potato and swamp taro seedlings which lay in rows across the counters, packed delicately in plastic pockets. With the assistance of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) these seedlings are one of three batches to be sent to Tuvalu, where the island agriculture is still recovering from the devastation caused by cyclone Pam in 2014. A total of 6000 seeds will be sent as part of this project. Fiji itself was hit by category five, tropical cyclone Winston two months ago and as a result the lab has been experiencing frequent power shortages because of damaged infrastructure. The continued production of seedlings amid these difficulties shows the importance of collaboration between Pacific countries to address crop resilience and food security in the region.

Source: http://asiapacificreport.nz/2016/04/26/pacific-crop-centre-develops-food-strategies-for-climate-change/