Nanumea islanders turn to Kiwa EMPOWER gardens

For years, the regular arrival of supply ships at Nanumea Island in Tuvalu signaled the restocking of local shop shelves. However, in recent weeks, severe weather conditions have reduced shipping frequency, leaving shelves bare and drastically depleting canned food supplies. In response, Nanumea islanders have turned to the fresh vegetables and root crops planted in their community through the Kiwa EMPOWER Project.

Kaipati Vevea, Project Officer for the Kiwa EMPOWER Project in Tuvalu, stated that owing to food shortages caused by delayed shipments, the village council decided to harvest the available vegetables and root crops from the community pulaka pits.

“It is very dry and we have bad weather with rough seas. The bad weather means the cargo ship can’t come to outer island with food supply. The islanders here use imported foods for their daily stable meals and now they don’t have food in store so now we go back and find food from Lakena from the pulaka pit. There is no drought, only a shortage of food supply on the main island. Last weekend, we caught small outboard fiber boats from Nanumea and travelled towards Lakena islet where we have our communal gardens and our pulaka pits. We plant there to make sure that there are no mosquitoes on our main island of Nanumea. Now families here are accessing fresh vegetables and root crops and there is a relief because our families now have food on their tables.”

The Kiwa Empower Project has been working closely with the 93 household community on the island through community-led initiatives to address climate change using nature-based solutions. This includes improving coastal protection using trees and mangroves, as well as increasing food security through agroforestry and home gardens incorporating traditional ecological knowledge and inclusion.

The Kiwa EMPOWER (Engaging Mobilization for Positive Outcome in Water, Ecosystem, and Resilience) Project combines ecosystem restoration, climate-smart agriculture, water resource management, indigenous knowledge, and inclusive decision-making to help communities thrive in a changing climate.

The Kiwa EMPOWER Project is being implemented by Live & Learn Fiji in partnership with Solomon Islands and Tuvalu and works in 24 communities to encourage the implementation of NbS through community initiatives that tangibly improve ecosystem health, functionality, and resilience, while strengthening livelihoods, food and water security in the context of climate change.

Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade I European Union in the Pacific I La politique étrangère du Canada – Affaires mondiales Canada I AFD – Agence Française de Développement I New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade I Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme – SPREP I IUCN OceaniaI Pacific-Community-SPC I Kiwa Initiative