Value Chains for Food Security and Nutrition in the Pacific Islands
The Pacific regional initiative which commenced in 2014 aims at developing local value chains for food and nutrition security. It focuses efforts from FAO to strengthening capacities of local food producers and business to supply more food to domestic and tourist markets to meet demands for a balanced and nutritious diet and to reduce food and feed imports. This includes supporting the development of policy and regulatory frameworks which, in turn, rely on improvements in capacity to assemble, integrate, analyse and disseminate information on food, nutrition and natural resources.
In addition, capacity to participate in the development of international standards relevant to the food systems of the Pacific Islands is being enhanced and national systems to assure compliance with such standards are strengthened. Complementary efforts are made through field projects to support the creation of sustainable and inclusive value chains.
The initiative is being implemented through three action areas: firstly, building the evidence base; secondly, establishing the regional enabling environment; and thirdly, national level actions in three focus countries (Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa).