Irene Chief’s words are stark as she describes what spurred her and her colleague Kama Ateca to do something about unhealthy diets in their island nation of Fiji. Seeing co-workers in their thirties or forties dying of heart attacks “will leave you traumatised,” she says. “We go to more and more funerals of young people… when people leave families at 30 or 40, we really need to look at our diet.”

This deep-seated concern at the impact of diet-related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) led Irene, who works at the University of the South Pacific, and Ateca, who is a senior official at Fiji’s Health Ministry, to begin collaborating on the My Kana smartphone app. It helps Fijians both monitor what they’re eating and gives them guidance on planting vegetable gardens.

My Kana (meaning “food” in Fiji’s indigenous iTaukei language) was one of the innovations showcased at the Small Island Development States (SIDS) Solutions Forum, co-organized by FAO and the government of Fiji in August 2021.

The challenges the app is designed to address are far from unique to Fiji. In fact, many countries around the world, and many SIDS in particular, face a “triple burden of malnutrition” — underweight, overweight and obesity accompanied by micronutrient deficiencies.