Growing more food secure communities in Solomon Islands

Above: Florence harvests eggplants grown in her garden with the help of a food and livelihoods project, supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership. Photo: Collin Leafasia/Save the Children Solomon Islands

Florence is a mother of three young children. They live together in a coastal village on a remote island in the Western province of Solomon Islands

Like many people in her community, Florence feeds her family from the land. “Most days I go fishing out on the reef in front of the bay. I also work in my garden when I am not fishing,” Florence says.

“People from my community mostly sell fish and food crops at the local market or at Gizo market to earn an income. Access to fresh water is a problem in our community. We rely mostly on rainwater for drinking and cooking.”

But the COVID-19 pandemic made things tougher for Florence and her community. Florence says her cash flow has reduced, and a lot of people in her community are finding it difficult to make an income.

“It is quite difficult to get materials or seeds to plant vegetables and other food crops during this time,” she says.

Above: Florence inspects the produce from her garden. Photo: Collin Leafasia/Save the Children Solomon Islands

Through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership’s COVID-19 response in Solomon Islands, Save the Children, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, provided vegetable seeds to Florence’s community to improve food availability and nutrition during the pandemic.

Above: Seedlings in the community nursery. Photo: Collin Leafasia/Save the Children Solomon Islands

Young people played an essential role in supporting the food supply during this difficult time.

“We gathered the youth in our community, and we built a nursery where we planted seeds. When the seeds were old enough, people from the community took them and planted them in their own gardens.” Florence says.

The project also provided a water tank so the community always has access to fresh, clean water.

“We installed it at our church and we use the tank to water our nursery,” Florence says.

“I’m very thankful. Young people in the community have also participated in looking after the nursery and have leant a lot of new skills,” Florence says, proudly showing the vegetables grown with seeds provided by the project.  

Save the Children’s Food and Livelihood project is funded by the Australian Government through Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP). Through the COVID-19 response in Solomon Islands, AHP partners have supported communities impacted by the economic repercussions of the pandemic, as well as the health response.

Story: Collin Leafasia, Save the Children Solomon Islands