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    Sun, sand and uncertainty: the promise and peril of a Pacific tourism bubble
    (The Conversation Media Group Ltd, 2020-06-08) Scheyvens R; Movono A
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    Pacific tourism is desperate for a vaccine and travel freedoms, but the industry must learn from this crisis
    (The Conversation Media Group Ltd, 2020-11-25) Movono A; Scheyvens R
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    Traditional skills help people on the tourism-deprived Pacific Islands survive the pandemic
    (The Conversation Media Group Ltd, 2020-11-02) Scheyvens R; Movono A
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    Silver linings around dark clouds: Tourism, Covid-19 and a return to traditional values, villages and the vanua
    (Victoria University of Wellington and John Wiley and Sons Australia Ltd., 2022-08) Movono A; Scheyvens R; Auckram S
    The global pandemic has adversely affected tourism globally, particularly in small island states heavily dependent on tourism. The closure of borders to regular flights for over a year in places such as Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and Vanuatu, where this research was undertaken, has resulted in massive job losses. Many tourism employees have left the once-bustling tourist hubs, returning to villages and family settlements. Such clear urban to rural migration behaviours do not dominate movement patterns in the Pacific, but are an important and enduring strategy when shocks strike. In the case of the pandemic-induced migration to villages, former tourism workers have had to engage in a complicated process of adapting to the communal setting, employing new – as well as traditional – strategies to sustain a livelihood. Thus, this paper will discuss how the pandemic has influenced return migration patterns in the Pacific, and the implications of this shift. Findings suggest that, despite their financial struggles, people have adapted to life in their ancestral homes by rekindling their relationships with kin and increasing their engagement on their customary land. They have relearned about traditional Indigenous knowledge, diversified their skills and reconnected with their social and ecological systems. This spiritual homecoming observed in the Pacific ultimately shows that there can be silver linings to the dark clouds of the current disorder.
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    Dietary agrobiodiversity for improved nutrition and health outcomes within a transitioning indigenous Solomon Island food system
    (Springer Nature BV on behalf of the International Society for Plant Pathology, 2021-08) Vogliano C; Raneri JE; Coad J; Tutua S; Wham C; Lachat C; Burlingame B
    Indigenous food systems of Pacific Small Island Developing Countries contain vast biological and cultural diversity. However, a nutrition transition is underway, characterized by shifts away from traditional diets in favour of imported and modern foods, contributing to some of the highest rates of obesity and Diabetes Type 2 Mellitus in the world. Using a mixed method approach, this study aimed to assess dietary agrobiodiversity’s relationship with nutrition indicators related to diet quality and anthropometrics within the context of the rural and Indigenous food system of Baniata village, located in the Western Province of Solomon Islands (Melanesia). A secondary aim was to evaluate the contribution of agrobiodiversity from the local food system to diet quality. A comprehensive nutrition survey was administered to the women primarily responsible for cooking of randomly selected households (n = 30). Additionally, 14 participatory focus group discussions captured the historical narrative of food system transitions, were hosted over a period of seven days, and included men, women and youth. Dietary intakes of the participants were reported below the estimated average requirement (EAR) for several essential nutrients, including protein (53%), calcium (96.6%), vitamin B1 (86.6%), vitamin B2 (80%), vitamin A (80%), zinc (40%) and fibre (77%). Focus group participants built a timeline of key historical and climatic transitions perceived to be drivers of dietary shifts away from traditional foods and towards imported and processed foods. Participants identified 221 species and varieties of agrobiodiverse foods available for cultivation or wild collection. Based on 24 h diet recalls, 87 were found to be utilised. Participants who consumed foods of a wider diversity of species richness had a higher probability of achieving recommended nutrition intakes and a lower body fat percentage (r2 = 0.205; p = 0.012). Our results suggest a nutrition transition is underway, and strategies harnessing traditional knowledge of nutrient-dense, agrobiodiverse foods can help improve food and nutrition security.
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    Assessing Diet Quality of Indigenous Food Systems in Three Geographically Distinct Solomon Islands Sites (Melanesia, Pacific Islands)
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-01) Vogliano C; Raneri JE; Maelaua J; Coad J; Wham C; Burlingame B
    Indigenous Solomon Islanders, like many living in Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), are currently experiencing the global syndemic-the combined threat of obesity, undernutrition, and climate change. This mixed-method study aimed to assess nutrition transitions and diet quality by comparing three geographically unique rural and urban indigenous Solomon Islands populations. Participants in rural areas sourced more energy from wild and cultivated foods; consumed a wider diversity of foods; were more likely to meet WHO recommendations of >400g of non-starchy fruits and vegetables daily; were more physically active; and had significantly lower body fat, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI) when compared to urban populations. Urban populations were found to have a reduced ability to self-cultivate agri-food products or collect wild foods, and therefore consumed more ultra-processed foods (classified as NOVA 4) and takeout foods, and overall had less diverse diets compared to rural populations. Clear opportunities to leverage traditional knowledge and improve the cultivation and consumption of underutilized species can assist in building more sustainable and resilient food systems while ensuring that indigenous knowledge and cultural preferences are respected.
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    Pacific Island Labour programmes in New Zealand : an aid to Pacific Island development? : a critical lens on the Recognised Seasonal Employer policy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Rockell, Dennis Graham
    The New Zealand Recognised Employer (RSE) Policy was designed to remedy labour shortages in the horticulture/viticulture industry early in the twenty-first century. It was the first New Zealand contract labour migration programme to be designed with the explicit intent of the development of the source countries, consisting mainly of small Pacific Island States. This research sought to examine within a historical context whether the programme was beneficial to the source countries and communities, and whether the programme met the expectations of international labour conventions which New Zealand has signed. An attempt was made to discover whether, when compared with antecedent programmes in New Zealand and North America, the RSE represented a new paradigm in the design and implementation of a contract migrant labour programme. The field work was carried out for twenty months between December 2011 and August 2013, involved a grower survey and over 100 semi-structured interviews with Government officials, horticulturalists, migrant workers, pastoral care workers, and other interested parties. Time in southern Vanuatu was divided between interviewing migrant RSE workers in Port Vila and visiting 100 village communities on Tanna Island. Assessments were made of access to the programme for the rural and urban poor and of the positive and negative impacts of the programme. Positive features observed included the benefits of close government monitoring of worker accommodation, the transparency of the remuneration, the interest of many employers in assisting workers to remit funds to source communities, house building and infrastructural benefits gained by many workers, and the transfer of useful skills. Negative features included the powerlessness of the workers to negotiate their work conditions, the failure of some employers to address workers’ specific needs, the social dislocation of some workers leading to alcohol abuse, the frequency of work interruptions due particularly to weather conditions, the excessive work hours on some nightshifts at minimum wage, and a lack of connection between recruitment patterns and areas of greatest need. The RSE policy has come about in an era of migration optimism. Since the mid-1990s the total global flow of remittances has exceeded the level of official development assistance. However most literature regarding remittance flows and transnational communities is set within a context of diaspora. The RSE was carefully designed to prevent overstaying of visa entitlements, in order to prevent any growth of diaspora. Consequently the overall financial flows in the case of Vanuatu are small compared to such sectors as tourism, and the position of the RSE in the migration-development nexus is somewhat contradictory.
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    Civil society and development : Pacific Island case studies : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1999) Swain, Peter Mervyn
    This enquiry set out to examine the role of civil society in economic and social development, and the relationship between the state, the market and civil society, in the island nations of the Pacific. The study also explored the notions of progress and development and identified the impact of the dominant development paradigm on traditional Pacific Island communities, cultures and economies. Case studies were undertaken of three segments of civil society in the Pacific Islands. A village community in Samoa, a non-government organisation in the Solomon Islands and a Pacific-wide social movement were the subjects of this enquiry. The study found that state-led and market-driven approaches to development have led to significant development failures in the Pacific Islands and a neglect of civil society. It is argued throughout this study, with supporting evidence from the three case studies, that civil society can and does make a significant contribution to the economic and social development of Pacific Island nations but that contribution has largely been neglected. This thesis argues that the state, the market and civil society all have important complementary roles to play in the development of a nation and, by working together in a coordinated manner, they have the capacity to improve the quality of life and create good change for people of the Pacific and their communities. It was concluded that civil society needs to assume a higher priority in development planning and practice, and that the participation of indigenous people, on their own terms, is central to good development practice. Furthermore, an explanatory model of the relationship between state, market and civil society was advanced. This model has the capacity to assist development education, policy formulation and programme planning. This study contributes to the discourse on civil society and alternative development and advances a range of proposals to improve development practice.
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    Agenda success? : The prospects for sub-regional human rights arrangements in the Pacific : a thesis presented in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Politics at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2011) Hay, Kathryn Susan
    Regional human rights institutions have been established in all United Nations (UN)-defined regions except for the Asia-Pacific. Although as a region the Asia-Pacific faces myriad human rights challenges, the diversity of countries and cultures and absence of a shared sense of regional identity inhibits momentum to form a regional mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights. Within this region several sub-regional configurations exist. The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), whose members include fourteen small island states, Australia and New Zealand, is the primary political body in the Pacific section of the broader Asia-Pacific region. The vision of the PIF emphasises the promotion and protection of human rights in the Pacific. Human rights issues have, however, tended to be addressed within individual countries, and Pacific leaders have paid little attention to the idea of sub-regional human rights arrangements (SHRAs) as a means of supporting human rights objectives. Within the PIF complex political and institutional processes shape the work of the Pacific leaders and affect which ideas are focused on and advanced. Within the policy process agenda setting is a critical element as new ideas and policy solutions can only be implemented after they have been deliberately considered and agreed upon by the political decision-makers. Several elements shape the agenda setting process: the framing of issues and possible solutions by policy advocates, the availability of appropriate venues in which decisions can be made, and opportunities to have ideas presented to the decision-makers. If the political decision-makers, in this thesis the PIF leaders, agree to advance and implement a policy idea then agenda success has occurred. This thesis examines the prospects for agenda success of SHRAs in the Pacific. Twenty two semi-structured interviews were undertaken with selected experts from throughout the Pacific. These empirical materials were triangulated with secondary sources. Analysis of these materials highlighted that all components of the agenda setting process are evident in this case study of SHRAs in the Pacific. In particular, interrelationships between the framing of issues and alternative solutions, venues and policy advocates, previously understated in other agenda setting research, are able to be identified. Certain conditions, such as political instability, international obligations, environmental challenges, and the current scoping exercise, provide opportunities for policy advocates to push their ideas. Further, the results of the research identify several contextual factors that are shaping the agenda setting process in the PIF. These include historical, national, sub-regional, international, cultural, economic, and geo-political factors, and issues of sovereignty. Before Pacific leaders are likely to agree to the advancement of SHRAs in the Pacific they will also need to be convinced that the idea is both feasible and immediately important. Therefore, although there is moderate evidence of the preconditions for agenda success being in place, the receptivity and political will of the PIF leaders is critical, and will, in the final instance, determine agenda success for SHRAs in the Pacific.