Can the non-market economy help to improve diet quality? Findings from a survey in New Caledonia

Abstract

The Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia is undergoing a nutritional transition that began several decades ago. In a political context dominated by questions of self-determination that reveal deep divisions, agriculture also mirrors this dichotomy, observed through the coexistence of traditional non-market agriculture primarily practiced on Kanak tribal reserves and so-called 'modern' and capitalistic, market-driven agriculture. Based on a survey of 180 tribal and non-tribal producers in the north of the main island of the Caledonian archipelago, we analysed whether self-consumed and gifted produce could improve the diet of the rural population. Our findings show an underconsumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, milk, and fish among the domestic groups surveyed, contrasting with excessive consumption of sugars. Non-market practices only partially promote better nutrition. Thus, being a fruit and vegetable producer or a fisherman is associated with adequate consumption of these products, while gifting food, a common practice in tribes, protects against the overconsumption of sweeter products by sustaining traditional tuber-based diets