Pacific and Pasifika Theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/4764

The theses listed in this collection were all completed at Massey University in a range of different departments and institutes. They have been included in this collection if the topic is strongly related to Pasifika/the Pacific.

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Assessing the sustainability of indigenous food systems in Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health Nutrition & Food Systems at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2022) Vogliano, Christopher
Indigenous Peoples living in Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) who have traditionally relied on locally grown, biodiverse foods for their primary source of nutrition are now seeing the adverse impacts of changing diets and climate change. Shifts away from traditional diets towards modern, imported and ultra-processed foods are likely giving rise to noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, which are now the leading causes of mortality. Climate change is magnifying health inequities and challenging food and nutrition security through heavier rains, longer droughts, and rising sea levels. COVID-19 has highlighted additional challenges for those living in PSIDS, exposing vulnerabilities across global food systems. Using Solomon Islands as a proxy for the broader Pacific, this thesis aims to assess PSIDS food system sustainability, including diet quality and diversity, as well as perceived food system transitions. Findings from this thesis can help strengthen discourse around promoting sustainable and resilient food systems and help achieve food and nutrition security targets set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Invasive alien species : a threat to sustainable livelihoods in the Pacific? : an assessment of the effects of Wasmannia auropunctata (little fire ant) and Achatina fulica (giant African snail) on rural livelihoods in the Solomon Islands : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2016) Stronge, Dean
Invasive alien species (IAS) are a global phenomenon and are recognised as a driver of environmental change which can affect the well-being of people in a multitude of ways. Despite this, the role of IAS in local livelihoods has received relatively little attention. Influencing all three of the sustainable development pillars (social, economic, environmental), IAS should be recognised as a significant development issue. But they are not. As such, IAS issues are new to many sectors and governments and therefore largely go unseen and un-actioned. Contemporary rural livelihoods in the Solomon Islands are heavily reliant on subsistence/semi-subsistence agriculture. Following a livelihoods’ framework developed for the Solomon Islands, this thesis explores the influence IAS have on rural livelihoods in this country. Using two qualitative case studies, Wasmannia auropunctata (little fire ant) and Achatina fulica (giant African snail), this study investigates how vulnerable/resilient rural livelihoods are to the effects of IAS and the implications IAS have for sustainable development in the Solomon Islands. The effects of IAS on rural livelihoods are complex and at times contradictory. W. auropunctata for the most part is not negatively affecting the dominant livelihood strategy (subsistence/semi-subsistence agriculture) practised in the Solomon Islands. While there are some social impacts associated with W. auropunctata, overall Solomon Island households can be considered resilient to this IAS. Achatina fulica is a different story. This species is negatively affecting the subsistence/semi-subsistence agricultural sector on which so many rural Solomon Island households depend. This has resulted in households implementing negative livelihood diversification measures as they fail to cope or adapt to the snails’ presence. Unlike for W. auropunctata, Solomon Island households have not demonstrated any resilience to A. fulica. Understanding how rural livelihoods are affected by various stressors and adverse events can help to design development policies and interventions geared towards building better lives for all people. This can only occur however, if the full range of shocks are recognised. To date, this is not the case for IAS, and as such, they are still a significant missing component of development policy.
Comparative study in the net barter terms of trade and income terms of trade of the Pacific Island economies : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies in Economics at Massey University
(Massey University, 1995) Soakai, Robert Matafonua Fotu
It is suggested by the so-called P-S thesis that countries whose exports based upon traditional primary products will continue to face deterioration in their terms of trade. It is upon such a proclamation, that challenge the author to launched an investigation to the validity of such a claim and its applicability to the case of Solomon Islands, Tonga and Western Samoa. The early researcher in this area shows that countries whose exports dominate by exporting traditional primary commodities tend to have more instability in its terms of trade than those who are exporting manufactured goods. However one of the most staggering finding of this research is. The terms trade of the three island economies seem to be deteriorate, at same time their purchasing power seems to be on the positive side. What it means that, despite the deterioration in the country's terms of trade their incomes seem not deter at all by such a movement. This is sound controversial to the P-S thesis but there was other trade incentive that came in to play when these countries' terms of trade deteriorate. However, perhaps it is enough to mention here that such deterioration in the terms of trade might mean so little when one take into account major factors that hammered these small island's economies. Factors like, drought, hurricane, poor quarantine service, has fueled the problem of deterioration of the terms of trade. Empirical test was carried out to examine the impact of the Net Barter terms of trade movement on the income (Gross Domestic Products). Result revealed was un-intrigue. Conclusion was drawn and there is a strong need for change in the export haves of the three island economies. Policies need to change to encourage regional trading. A change to the trade agreement (e.g., SPARTECA) that govern the trade activities of the island nations, is necessary. Such a change will help the island nations to compete with its trading partners effectively and competatively.
Custom, governance and Westminster in Solomon Islands : charting a course out of the political quagmire : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2016) Cassells, Ross Macdonald
This thesis investigates whether the people of Solomon Islands would be better served by a form of governance that is politically hybrid than through the current Westminster unitary-state model. In remote provinces such as Choiseul, the reach of the state is limited. Here, notions of citizenship and national identity have gained little traction because kin group relations underpin society and form the basis for peoples’ identity. In such societies customary institutions, in the form of chiefs, and the church provide order. In these self-governing rural communities governance is distinctly parochial in its application and often hybrid in form. This study examines whether the hybrid polities of such communities have an application within the proposed Federal Constitution of Solomon Islands. The thesis, first, examines the international concepts of governance that have shaped and provided a framework within which the state of Solomon Islands, and its systems of governance, have evolved. State governance today, is very much a product of historical antecedents. However, an analysis of these antecedents demonstrates that Solomon Islanders have been particularly adept at appropriating introduced systems for their own purposes, and matters of governance are no exception. Using semi-structured interviews, the fieldwork component of this thesis examines the hybrid form of governance that exists in a Choiseulese village to determine whether such models have an application within the proposed Federal Constitution, thus providing a greater degree of political legitimacy than exists under the current Westminster system. Three tiers of government are proposed in the Federal Constitution – Federal, State and Community Governments. Of these, Community Governments provide a particularly suitable political arena where hybridised forms of village governance, which locally have a considerable degree of political legitimacy, can be combined with such functions of state as are necessary to achieve good governance. This, it is argued, will allow the development of forms of governance that are much more suited to local conditions than is possible under the current constitution.
The participation of women in the Solomon Islands education system : a study with particular reference to Solomon Island women who held New Zealand government tertiary scholarships between 1973 and 1990 : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Development Studies at Massey University
(Massey University, 1994) Quinn, Marion
This is a study on the participation of women in the Solomon Islands education system, focussing in particular on the experiences of Solomon Islands women who held New Zealand Government tertiary scholarships between 1973 and 1990. Despite increasing international recognition of the importance of education for girls and women in addressing critical national economic and social goals, gender remains the single most significant determinant of access to schooling in most developing countries. While there is a growing body of literature on factors affecting the participation of girls and women in education in developing countries, little has been written on the subject in relation to the South Pacific and nothing of substance in relation to Solomon Islands. More generally, Altbach (1985) noted the lack of research on the experience of women as overseas students and the outcomes of tertiary education for women in developing countries. The findings of this study confirm research carried out elsewhere that the socio-economic status of parents has greater influence on the schooling of girls than of boys. For the earliest women tertiary students, the encouragement of educated fathers was of particular significance in breaking down traditional barriers to girls' participation in education. Girls and women from matrilineal societies were, in general, given greater encouragement to enter and to remain longer in school. In undertaking tertiary study overseas and returning to positions of responsibility in both the public and private sectors, the women in this study were in many ways 'trailblazers' for the women who followed behind them. Their position was not an easy one, subject often to personal misunderstanding and criticism as they sought a new role and a new status for women in Solomon Islands society. Yet this was not an elite, Westernised group, divorced from their own society. Those interviewed were characterised by a strong commitment to assisting other Solomon Islands women and to contributing effectively to the development of their society. The study concludes that the interests of development have been well served by the investment in their education.
Reasserting the local in the global : local livelihoods and sustainable development in the proposed East Rennell World Heritage site, Solomon Islands : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University
(Massey University, 1996) Purdie, Nicholas Simon
This thesis assesses the relationships between the sustainable development approach to integrating environmental and developmental concerns, and that approach suggested by the concept of sustainable livelihoods. In the context of the East Rennell World Heritage Project in Solomon Islands, the nature of sustainable development as it is operationalised at the local level, and the reality of people's livelihoods within the boundaries of that project, are assessed to determine where sustainable development meets livelihoods to both support and enhance them, and the implications which a sustainable livelihoods approach has for sustainable development. Over the last fifteen years the concept of sustainable development has been promoted at the global level as a means by which environmental integrity may be maintained, and at the same time allow for the continued development of human economic and social systems to improve the welfare of poor people. Arising out of the twin concerns that development was not meeting its primary goal of alleviating poverty, and at the same time was placing environmental systems in jeopardy, the concept of sustainable development is now a central theme within global development discourse. Alternatively, the concept of sustainable livelihoods has been presented as a 'new analysis' of the reality of the lives of local people and the problems they encounter as they attempt to construct viable livelihoods for themselves, and represents an alternative strategy for integrating environmental and developmental concerns at the local level. The rationale for using such an approach to environment and development is that only by ensuring that all people have access to an adequate and secure livelihood will further goals of sustainability be able to be obtained. This thesis presents the results of research undertaken in Solomon Islands over a three month period in 1995. The research is presented as two village case studies incorporporating the results of Participatory Rural Appraisal surveys undertaken at Tevaitahe and Niupani villages in the proposed East Rennell World Heritage Site. The general conclusion reached is that although sustainable development attempts to assist local people in conserving their resources and develop income generating business based on ecotourism, the nature of this sustainable development to a certain extent precludes the achievement of sustainable livelihoods.The suggestion is given, therefore, that the sustainable livelihoods infer an alternative approach to development.
The factors and causes for the failure of states in the South Pacific : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2002) Leske, Samuel Wade
The modern notion of the state has had a difficult time in permeating the South Pacific. The problem is that the tiny South Pacific communities are in many ways simply too small to act as states in the traditional sense. Where this combines with severe ethnic and economic problems it is a powder keg that can result in a state's failure. The Pacific is clearly the most important region in New Zealand's immediate area of direct strategic interest, as it is in that region that all of New Zealand's goods must flow to reach the lucrative markets of the world. It is also through this region that the threats to New Zealand must pass. These threats are not necessarily foreign military forces, but things which can indirectly pose a threat to New Zealand's sovereignty such as the detrimental influence of the drugs trade on our society, the proximity of vulnerable economics to organised crime cartels and the risks, and problems associated with displaced persons forced from their Pacific homes in the wake of a state's collapse. A state's failure in New Zealand's area of direct strategic interest would pose a significant threat to New Zealand's territorial and economic security. To preserve New Zealand's sovereignty and to assist in protecting those within our area of strategic interest, New Zealand needs to be able to recognise those factors which can trigger a substantial failure within a state. An economically vulnerable state can be just a bigger threat to New Zealand as a violently imploding one. To understand and predict the possible outcomes for states in the South Pacific the idea of the state must be first understood. The inception of the modern state following the Treaty of Westphalia is a good place to start. Issues of sovereignty and ethnicity need to be considered when examining the state but despite these major issues the definition of a state can always be linked back to the ability of the controlling entity to exercise a monopoly of violence over its subjects. This forms the basis of the definition of the state and as an indicator used to determine if a state is failing or not. Though the monopoly of violence is a good indicator it is not the cause. There must be a number of factors that allow a state's controlling entity to loose control. These factors lead to a competition between groups that want to gain the ability to exercise a monopoly of violence over the state. The result of this competition is civil war, instability and ultimately the complete collapse of the societal and economic structure of the state.
Understanding the experiences of small business developments : a case study of local business owners in Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management at Massey University (Manawatu campus), Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2014) Leokana, Tozen
Using data drawn from interviews with ten Solomon Island business owners, this study explores the influences and practices that shape the development and operation of small businesses in this context. The study explains these experiences and influences using the three dimension of social capital identified by (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). The study highlights the influence of family and community in both making business possible and constraining their development. The study discusses in particular the influence of the wantok system and practice of kaon on the success of small businesses in this region.
Foreign aid and economic growth of the South Pacific microstates : selected case studies of the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa and the Solomon Islands (1970-1995) : a research thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Applied Economics at Massey University
(Massey University, 1999) Viviani, Ron
The purpose of foreign aid has traditionally been to assist developing countries to progress through the transition period from economic stagnation to self-sustaining economic growth. For most island economies foreign aid is a key factor in their economic growth and development. It provides a source for foreign exchange, fills the investment-savings gap and meets the shortfall in resource needs. This study presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between foreign aid and economic growth for the South Pacific Microstates (SPMs) of the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands. A neoclassical production function is employed to evaluate the aid-growth nexus. The Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method to cointergration regression is applied to time series data for the period 1970 to 1995 for each of the selected case studies. The various components of foreign aid such as bilateral, multilateral, grant, loan, and technical co-operation aid are utilised to evaluate the disaggregated effects of foreign aid on economic growth. Other determinants of growth such as investment, domestic savings, government consumption and exports are also included in this analysis. Empirical evidence indicates that foreign aid and its various components i.e. bilateral, multilateral, loan, grant, and technical co-operation aid, has not contributed positively or significantly to the Cook Islands and Kiribati's economic growth. The poor performance of government authorities in these South Pacific Microstates is the best explanation for such an outcome. The results for the larger SPMs of Samoa and the Solomon Islands show positive aid-growth relationships. As such, bilateral, grant, and loan aid contributes to economic growth for Samoa. In the case of the Solomon Islands the results are more interesting with various components of foreign aid having a stronger influence on economic growth than the aggregated form of foreign aid. That is, the impact of bilateral, grant, and technical co-operation aid on economic growth is positive and significant in the long-run. As for other determinants of economic growth it is apparent that exports is the only factor that significantly contributes to the economic performance of all these SPMs. Government consumption and the labour force has been productive for Samoa, however, the Cook Islands, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands display negative or insignificant results for these variables. Investment provides strong support for the economic growth of both Samoa and the Solomon Islands, however, in the case of the later it is a short term impact. Domestic savings in these two SPMs are well below investment levels and do not contribute to their country's growth performance. Overall, it is seen that domestic resources (i.e. exports) have a stronger influence on the economic performance of the Cook Islands and Kiribati compared to foreign resources (i.e foreign aid). However, with limited growth of the domestic resources in these SPMs it is difficult to maintain sustained economic growth while relying on exports only. The challenge for the Cook Islands and Kiribati is to improve the productiveness of foreign resources and reduce large and inefficient government sectors. As for Samoa and the Solomon Islands the performance of domestic resources contributes more to the economies of these countries than foreign resources. Moreover, foreign resources also contribute to economic growth. For Samoa and the Solomon Islands to benefit and sustain economic growth and development, it is important to implement policies that encourage private sector development and also have a stable economic environment.
The impact of smallholder cocoa production on rural livelihoods : case study in the Solomon Islands : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of AgriScience at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2013) Hivu, Dorcas Oroi
Through its working policy, the Solomon Islands government aimed to increase smallholder production of cash crop products, such as cocoa, through which the country not only earned revenue but farmers also earned income. As such, smallholder farmers in the Solomon Islands have been encouraged to venture into cash crop earning activities. In the last decades, donor agencies have been involved a lot with farmers to increase cash crop production. However, rural households depend largely on subsistence activities for their livelihood. Based on the understanding that a lot of assistance has been given to smallholder farmers throughout the country, both by the government and outside aid agencies, this study seeks to investigate the impact of smallholder cash crop production on rural livelihoods. A qualitative case study approach was utilised in this study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with farmers. This study used the Sustainable Livelihood Framework as a guide to investigate the livelihoods at household level. The results show that household’s involvement in cash crop production is facilitated by the church with very limited support from the central government. This study provides an empirical example of how a community integrates cash cropping as part of their livelihood through their own initiatives. Factors which enable households to integrate cash crops as a part of their livelihood include: motivation to participate due to community commitment to the church; access to a trusted market; nature of the crop; and labour availability. Cash cropping, as shown in this study, does not undermine or substitute food production since there is abundant land available. Results also show that cash cropping has significantly improved household income and consequently increase household standard of living. This research found that the benefits of cash cropping are distributed across all households within the community as all households grow crops. Households benefit directly from cash cropping through access to cash. Access to cash opens up opportunities for households and/or individuals to venture into other livelihood activities within the community. This study also found that cash cropping has some negative implications. Access to cash through cash cropping results in a change in cultural expectations towards cash; a change in children’s attitude towards education; decreased participation in communal work; and contributes to reduction in the cultivation of traditional crops with cultural importance to the community. This research suggests that institutions through which rural households have access to and/or benefit from cash cropping should be supported by the government.

Pacific and Pasifika Theses

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