February 2010: This publication from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), entitled “Stories of Hope from the Pacific: How better food security is making island life healthier,” notes several accomplishments towards achieving food security in island countries in the Pacific region, where it notes food security is particularly fragile.

In the publication, FAO defines food security as existing “when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” The publication reports that, with support from FAO and Italy, among others, 14 Pacific Island Countries established 26 national projects with the goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015. The approach of the initiative is to “to help island people grow healthier by eating more nutritious local foods, while reducing the amount of processed imported food they eat,” according to the FAO’s Subregional Representative for the Pacific Islands.

Results, to date, include training more than 43,500 people in livestock improvement, crop intensification, food processing and adding value to local food products through modern packaging; increasing farmers’ yield, which in turn increases the variety and availability of local food, leading to better nutrition and food security; and making most of the projects self-sustaining.

An independent assessment of the FAO initiative led to expansion into a new program, the Food Security and Sustainable Livelihood Programme in the Pacific Island Countries (FSSLP). [Stories of Hope webpage]