Household Food Insecurity in the Pacific Islands: Determinants, Consequences, and/or Proposed Solutions

Summary

Household food insecurity is an increasingly important public health and development challenge across Pacific Island Countries and Territories. While Pacific communities have historically relied on diverse local food systems, the interaction of trade liberalization, urbanization, climate change, changing food environments, and economic dependence has transformed household food security, increasing reliance on imported, often ultra-processed foods. These changes have contributed to declining dietary diseases (diet-related non-communicable diseases) globally, while household vulnerability remains uneven across the region because of differences in geography, livelihoods, environmental exposure, and adaptive capacity.

Understanding household food insecurity requires attention to the broader political economy of Pacific food systems alongside household-level experiences of food access, availability, and utilization. Strengthening household food security depends on integrated responses that increase the availability of nutritious local foods, support resilient and sustainable food systems, promote traditional and indigenous foods, strengthen community resilience, and better align agricultural, health, and development policies with Pacific priorities.