The importance of indigenous freshwater foods for rural women in Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands

Documents rural womens cooking practices and livelihoods focusing on lesser known aquatic foods. The article summarizes recipies used in a cooking competition among rural women and uses that as a platform for describing contemporary healthy and sustainable aquatic food systems

Island food systems in transition: Strengthening Indigenous food systems in Solomon Islands

This brief defines a vision for an island food system centered on rural food system actors and Indigenous foods. It provides the foundation for a new partnership program between the Kastom Gaden Association and WorldFish in Solomon Islands. This partnership will work towards implementing the island food systems vision

Nourishing island food systems in Solomon Islands: Operational Plan 2023

The WorldFish program in Solomon Islands is organized around four main research pathways (see figure). The first three are the agreed-upon impact areas of WorldFish, which aligns toward our adopted goal from the Solomon Islands National Fisheries Policy 2019–2029 of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR). The fourth research pathway places a deliberate emphasis on integrated planning and partnerships. Although WorldFish in Solomon Islands has many partners, we particularly integrate our research with MFMR to support national strategies toward its policy goal

Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to assist resilient food production in the Solomon Islands. A case study of Soluve community

The study of indigenous peoples and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has been of particular interest in recent years. While TEK has been used in areas such as anthropology and conservation biology in the past, little has been done around TEK and resilient food production. The coming years will see the increasing effects of climate change on food production and food security. This research aims to understand and document TEK within the Soluve community in order to understand how people in the community can find ways to be more resilient in the future. In carrying out this research, ten members of the Soluve community were interviewed on food production practices in the light of their knowledge of TEK along with their knowledge of TEK. A thorough search of relevant literature was also central to my research method. The community of Soluve are affected by frequent flooding and rainfall resulting in limited food yields from gardens. The results of my research indicate that TEK is still practised and maintained in the Soluve community in terms of food production. In particular, traditional preservation methods such as smoking and drying in the Motu can help food last longer. Further research is needed, however, on the erosion of TEK, and how the people of Soluve can document this knowledge

Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to assist resilient food production in the Solomon Islands. A case study of Soluve community

The study of indigenous peoples and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has been of particular interest in recent years. While TEK has been used in areas such as anthropology and conservation biology in the past, little has been done around TEK and resilient food production. The coming years will see the increasing effects of climate change on food production and food security. This research aims to understand and document TEK within the Soluve community in order to understand how people in the community can find ways to be more resilient in the future. In carrying out this research, ten members of the Soluve community were interviewed on food production practices in the light of their knowledge of TEK along with their knowledge of TEK. A thorough search of relevant literature was also central to my research method. The community of Soluve are affected by frequent flooding and rainfall resulting in limited food yields from gardens. The results of my research indicate that TEK is still practised and maintained in the Soluve community in terms of food production. In particular, traditional preservation methods such as smoking and drying in the Motu can help food last longer. Further research is needed, however, on the erosion of TEK, and how the people of Soluve can document this knowledge

The importance of indigenous freshwater foods for rural women

The importance of indigenous freshwater foods for rural women in Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands A film has been produced by WorldFish in partnership with the Guadalcanal Provincial Government on the vital role of indigenous foods in the province. The film depicts an indigenous aquatic foods cooking competition for women in the Ghaobata ward in the north Guadalcanal region, Solomon Islands during the 2021 International Rural Women’s day celebrations, and reinforces that: • Indigenous foods are part of our culture, identity an daily practice, • Women grow, harvest and cook indigenous foods for the nutrition for families and next generations • Indigenous foods are under threat of being replaced with high imports of processed food which is high in sugar, salt and fat and lifestyle changes affecting food choices and preparation. • The environment where indigenous foods are sourced from are also under threat from environment degradation due to land-based activities, poor management and climate change. • By promoting indigenous foods and indigenous management of environments, our indigenous people can still enjoy indigenous foods