The Republic of Kiribati in the Central Pacific covers more than 5,000,000 square kilometres of ocean. It consists of 33 low-lying atolls that are formed into three groups, the Gilberts proper; Phoenix; Northern and Southern Line Islands with Ocean Island (see Figure 1). Although the Republic of Kiribati is spread over a large area the actual total landmass of 79,000 hectares is very small. The islands range from Mackean Island at 56 hectares in the Phoenix group to Christmas Island of 36,365 hectares in the Line group. With the exception of Banana, all the islands of Kiribati are low lying atolls built on a submerged volcanic chain and encircled by reefs with one of the biggest atolls (Christmas) in the world. The only island that rises more than 4 metres, is Ocean Island, the former phosphate atoll (Lambert, 1982). The capital is Bairiki on Tarawa, the most populous island with around 38,000 inhabitants.

The indigenous population is Micronesian, of which there are 64,883, while Chinese, Indians, Europeans and other Pacific islanders (Tongans and Fijians) make up the remainder. Twenty-one of the atolls are inhabited; these are the 17 islands of the Gilbert group, Canton (with a small caretaker community) of the Phoenix and 3 in the Line Islands. The Gilbert group hosts 79 percent of the population, with Tarawa Island the capital having 36.5 percent of the total population. At present Kiribati’s population is approximately 90,000 (Crocombe 2001); according to the SPC the mid-year population estimate in 2000 was 90,700 (SPC) and according to the World Factbook the July 2006 estimate is 105,432 (with a population growth rate of 2.24%).

Agriculture in the general sense is not on a large scale in Kiribati. Rural existence is based on the cultivation of the coconut tree for food and housing, with a proportion of the produce being used for a monetary income from the sale of copra. Most protein foods come from the ocean and the lagoons. Apart from coconut and marine life, the other component of the diet is swamp taro or "babai" (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) or giant swamp taro which is grown in pits dug to the water table, and into which various forms of compost are added (Ali, 1987). The pits vary in size from a few square metres to a quarter of a hectare or more.

Copra is the only exported agricultural product. Efforts are being made to establish breeds of pigs, poultry and goats suitable for local breeding. Table 1 contains information on ruminant livestock production in Kiribati and various imports.

The soils found in the Republic of Kiribati are formed from calcareous sand consisting mostly of the shells of marine algae and foraminifera and largely made from calcium and magnesium carbonate. The sand contains four main components as listed below in order of decreasing particle size (Barr, 1992).

1. Very coarse sand composed of the white rod-shaped, calcareous algae porolithion.
2. Discoidal white or pink spherical foraminifera, thin in section.
3. Fine sand of orange or pink spherical foraminifera, and
4. Fine sand and very fine sand composed of the breakdown products of Halmieda algae.

The soils generally encountered in Kiribati may be described as having an AC type profile. The A-horizon consists of sand containing a very variable quantity of humus. It is usually about 25 cm deep, has a pH of 7.6-8.0, and is dark greyish to black in colour. This rapidly gives way to coarse white and pink gravely sand of the C-horizon, which consists almost exclusively of calcium and magnesium carbonates and has a pH of 7.8-8.3. The soil type is one of coral sediment with varying topsoil that is poor in nutrients. The soil has a high amount of free calcium, locking up most of the necessary nutrients. The soils are very highly permeable and have a low moisture-retaining capacity. The topsoil may have clay-sized particles constituting up to 5 percent of the volume of soil but such particles are formed by the breakdown of the algae shells by carbonic acid in humus.

Atoll soils are generally low in N and K, and P tends to be fixed. Deficiencies of micro-minerals (nutrients) such as Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn are very common, however, the levels of sodium, boron and molybdenum are adequate, while sulphur may be borderline in some areas.

The size of Kiribati does not allow for any large-scale ruminant livestock production. Therefore the few livestock kept (monogastrics and ruminants) are largely under the subsistence production system. Pigs and poultry are on free range or extensive system of production.

The livestock unit of the Ministry of Agriculture has what is termed "a nucleus unit" where livestock are improved through a breeding program. These animals are later sold out at subsidized prices to the outer islands. Thus, the smallholder farmers are those mainly involved in livestock production in Kiribati and there is no commercial production of cattle, goats and sheep.

Goat is (was) the major ruminant animal found in Kiribati. In 1985 there were an estimated 160 goats of which 20 were kept by five smallholder farmers and the remainder kept in "a nucleus unit" (Baraniko, 1985). The goats were distributed to farmers in South Tarawa, but were later re-possessed by the Livestock section of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Agricultural division is very cautious in the distribution of goats to outer islands because of their destructiveness to young coconut seedlings and babai and also (as with pigs) because of the risk of polluting the freshwater lenses under the atolls

Reports have proved that goats can survive successfully in Kiribati (Baraniko, 1985; Hussain, 1987). In the 1980s goats were mostly grazed under young coconut plantations established on reclaimed land in Temaiku at the Agricultural Research Station, South Tarawa, where strip grazing (electric fencing was used) and browsing on natural and secondary growth was carried out (Hussain, 1987). Tethering is the major production system available to the smallholder or subsistence farmers.

Of all the shrubs in the atolls goats appear to like Scaevola sericea (salt bush) the most and on most atolls they heavily relied on it. In fact, under coconuts Scaevola sericea was the only acceptable feed consumed daily by goats (Hussain, 1987). Of the vines and creepers which are also important components of the ground cover of atolls, many were eaten by goats under some circumstances, but the legume Vigna marina was the most palatable (Hussain, 1987). Because goats are selective grazers, they are very useful in the control of weeds under coconuts only when the majority of the weeds are accepted by the goats. However, FAOSTAT has no data on the goat population in Kiribati (see Table 1).

There are a number of constraints that limit pasture based livestock production systems in Kiribati and these include:

1. The islanders are and always have been mainly fishermen although subsistence farming is done within different communities.
2. It is difficult to get farmers to change from their traditional farming methods.
3. Land shortage appears to be the major problem and people continue to lack land to grow their food crops or raise their livestock.
4. Soil fertility is poor and in most cases soils consist of coral sand surfaced by relatively a thin layer of organic matter.
5. Climatically, the islands at times suffer prolonged droughts. This means that rainfall varies between islands and it has a great effect on the growth and yield of natural vegetation including food crops as well as on poultry and pigs the two main forms of livestock best adapted to atoll conditions.
6. The land use system described as "atoll-agroforestry" (where a wide range of cultivated and protected wild trees and a more limited number of non-tree plants and livestock are raised within a relatively dense and homogenous matrix of the superdominant coconut, Thaman, 1990) is also a constraint.

The dominant species in the vegetation of Kiribati is the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) which over most of the country forms naturally regenerating open woodland (Barr, 1992). It has been estimated that coconut occupies 80 percent of the land area of Kiribati (Catala, 1957). The grass, Lepturus repens forms an almost complete cover in the better-managed coconut woodland, while on poorer soils the surface vegetation consists largely of Sida fallax and Triumfetta procumbens. Trees and shrubs grow among coconut palms and, especially in the wetter islands, form dense thickets. These include Scaevola sericea, Messerschidia argentea, Pandanus tectorius, Guettarda speciosa, Premna obtusifolia and Morinda citrifolia. In Kiribati, the undergrowth varies from almost bare ground to dense bush.

Other common herbaceous plants include Cassytha filiformis (a parasitic climber), Boerhaavia diffusa, Vigna marina, Portulaca spp., Fleurya ruderalis. The grasses are Eleusine indica, Eragrostis amabilis, Stenotaphrum micranthum, Thuarea involuta and Cenchrus echinatus. These are of no value in ruminant livestock production systems because they are weeds. Over the years however, several cover crops have been introduced into Kiribati. The following species namely, Dolichos lab lab; Lotononis Bainesi; Calopogonium mucunoides; Glycine wightii; Stylosanthes guyanesis; Peuraria phaseoloides; Stylosanthes humilis and Phaseolus atropurpureus were introduced (Town, 1977). The only species to cover the ground adequately and to flower and produce viable seed was P. atropurpureus. However, this was easily overtaken by the wild Vigna and Canavalia species. Fodders such as leaves of coconut, breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Pipturis, Pandanus and Moringa oliefera can be fed to goats if available.

There was consideration of the introduction of more multi-purpose trees and shrubby species such as Crotalaria, Flemingia, Tehphrosia and Leucaena into the island. Leucaena leucocephala has been reported to grow well and it seems the obvious one to try in Kiribati (Town, 1977). However, caution should be exercised to avoid detrimental competition with the few existing crops. The most recent initiative is the introduction of agroforestry development into the agricultural systems of Kiribati (Teaira, 2000).

Weed control is achieved by slashing of fern and small shrubs found in the coconut plantations. Sometimes they are controlled manually.

None

This profile was written and will be updated from time to time by: Eroarome Martin Aregheore

The University of the South Pacific, School of Agriculture

Alafua Campus, Apia, Samoa.

Tel: 685 21 671; Fax: 685 22 933

E-mail: aregheore_m@samoa.usp.ac.fj

[The profile was lightly edited by J.M Suttie and S.G. Reynolds in May 2002 and modified in October 2006]