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    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 91 news items in Water & Food
    Mangrove crab sustainability is vital for fishers in Indonesia’s Aru Islands
    Water & FoodFebruary 2, 2024

    Mangrove crab sustainability is vital for fishers in Indonesia’s Aru Islands

    Photo by Ridzki R. Sigit/Mongabay-Indonesia. Retrieved from news.mongabay.com A recent rapid survey in Lorang village by Indonesian researchers, however, has indicated signs of depletion in the abundance of mud crabs, sparking new concerns among local fishers who depend on the marine creature for their livelihoods. The boom in mud crab fisheries in the Aru Islands started in 2014 when the Indonesian government imposed [a moratorium on various fisheries commodities](https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/158400/permen-kkp-no-56permen-kp2014-tahun-2014), including shrimp and fish. “In the late 1990s, some people in Lorang were hunting for crabs in the mangroves,” said Natanel, who was also one of the first generation of crab catchers in the village. “But it started to flourish from 2015 until now.” The Indonesian government [has estimated](https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/159676/kepmen-kkp-no-50kepmen-kp2017-tahun-2017) the potential for crab resources in the fisheries management area that includes the Aru Islands at 1,498 tons with a total allowable catch of 1,198 tons. Fishers in Lorang village, for example, don’t need to go far to sell their mud crabs, as buyers from elsewhere in the district would travel there themselves. Typically, crabs weighing 300-700 grams (10-25 ounces) are sold for 90,000 rupiah ($5.70), and those weighing more than that, up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), are priced at 180,000 rupiah ($11.40). Crabs larger than 1 kg can be sold for up to 300,000 rupiah ($19).

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    Farmers on Small Italian Islands Restore Ancient Groves and Local Production
    Water & FoodFebruary 2, 2024

    Farmers on Small Italian Islands Restore Ancient Groves and Local Production

    Photo by Federico Burgalassi. Retrieved from oliveoiltimes.com One of the seven islands of the Tuscan archipelago, Giglio covers 21 square kilometers and is located nearly 16 kilometers off the region’s southern coast. Fewer than 1,500 people live year-round on the island, characterized by hilly terrain, steep terraces that slope toward smooth, pale granite cliffs, and a few sandy beaches much sought-after by vacationers during the warmest months. “An olive mill has been operating on the island until the mid-1990s,” Bancalà said. “Our ancestors landed on these coasts between 1560 and 1570, and afterward, they were most likely engaged in olive farming.” “Indeed, today, we are taking care of trees that have been passed down to us from our great-grandfather, who produced olive oil,” he added. “The company’s name is a tribute to him; Goffo is the nickname by which he was known in the village.” Agriculture, primarily viticulture, has always been vital for the economy of Giglio, which was also home to a pyrite mine that provided work to more than 300 islanders from 1938 to 1962. Then, in the 1960s, tourism started developing and gradually supplanted the other activities – for several years, only some villagers continued cultivating the land. Over the past two decades, a renewed enthusiasm for farming began to spread on the island. In the early 2000s, some entrepreneurs reintroduced Ansonaco (the local dialect for Ansonica) wine, made from an autochthonous white grape, onto the market.

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    In community with food, champions of regenerative agriculture gather in Kauai
    Water & FoodDecember 18, 2023

    In community with food, champions of regenerative agriculture gather in Kauai

    Excerpt and Photo from impactalpha.com If you think regenerative agriculture is merely an elite affectation of modern foodies, you might want to pay a visit to the 600-year-old Alakoko fishpond on a bend in the Hulēʻia River on the windward side of Kauaʻi. Alakoko is one of nearly 500 fishponds that once provided sustainable seafood to communities across the Hawaiian islands. Most have fallen prey to development and disrepair; a few dozen are being restored by community and conservation organizations. At Alakoko, the nonprofit [Mālama Hulēʻia](https://malamahuleia.org/) and scores of volunteers are restoring the 2,700 foot kuapā, or fishpond wall, that once created a vibrant ecosystem to nurture young fish, along with crabs and birds. Crews also are pulling out thickets of red mangroves, an invasive species that had choked the pond.

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    Bison herd fuels Prairie Island community’s journey to food sovereignty
    Water & FoodDecember 18, 2023

    Bison herd fuels Prairie Island community’s journey to food sovereignty

    Photo: Ben Hovland / MPR News. Retrieved from agweek.com Dressen says the return of bison to the river valley is just one sign of health here. “Thanks to the commitment of our elders, our veterans and our community members and tribal council, today we have a herd of at least 300,” said Dressen. “We have at least 70 babies this year. So as our community came back home and started to grow, it also mirrored our relatives coming back also. And today, both the community and the buffalo here at Prairie Island are flourishing.” In the decades since Prairie Island established its bison herd, tribal nations have worked to get U.S. Department of Agriculture support for the growing and processing of Indigenous foods. And they want more say in how those systems operate. Advocates say tribal self-governance under the farm bill means that tribes would manage their own programs after agreeing to comply with USDA standards. It’s part of an effort to reclaim food sovereignty or control over production and distribution of the foods that sustained communities for generations including before colonization. In 2018, the Native Farm Bill Coalition (NFBC) advocated for a pilot project that supported the purchase of traditional foods. Eight tribes were allowed to purchase Indigenous foods outside those vendors approved by the USDA. The coalition and others would like to see the program expanded to include all tribal nations across the country. For Prairie Island, it could mean contracts with the USDA that would offset the costs of their operation and increase sales and trade opportunities. The coalition said the USDA spent $4 billion in tribal communities nationwide in fiscal year 2022, but only a fraction of that spending went to contracts with Indigenous farmers and producers.

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    Mayotte, a group of French-controled African islands, is running out of water
    Water & FoodNovember 27, 2023

    Mayotte, a group of French-controled African islands, is running out of water

    In Mayotte, a group of [French](https://blavity.com/black-owned-uncle-nearest-whiskey-grande-champagne-vineyard) territorial islands between Mozambique and Madagascar, residents face a severe shortage of clean water. According to many of the islands’ nearly 300,000 people, the response to a years-long drought has been lacking. [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/19/climate/mayotte-water-crisis-drought-climate/index.html) reported that Mayotte is experiencing its worst drought in over 25 years, with its two water reserves operating at less than 10% of their capacities. Authorities are tightly rationing water in the island territory, with citizens having access for 18-hour stretches “every couple of days,” per a schedule the government issued on Oct. 9. Worse, even when the water is on for residents, it is often contaminated, exacerbating an outbreak of gastroenteritis among residents. The dire conditions have caused outrage among residents, who blame local officials and the French government. France colonized Mayotte in 1841 and declared it one of its five overseas departments in 2011. Despite being legally part of France, conditions in Mayotte are significantly worse than in mainland France. According to the [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/france-mayotte-water-crisis-protests-f079fb9b8f2b4057cd06687bb88d9fb9), Mayotte is “the poorest place in the European Union.” Most residents live below the French poverty line, half earning less than $170 monthly.

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    France’s poorest island is parched because of drought and underinvestment
    Water & FoodNovember 27, 2023

    France’s poorest island is parched because of drought and underinvestment

    Photograph: [Gregoire Merot/AP Photo]. Retrieved from aljazeera.com Drop by disappearing drop, water is an ever more precious resource on Mayotte, the poorest place in the European Union. Taps flow just one day out of three in this French territory off Africa’s eastern coast, thanks to a drawn-out drought compounded by years of underinvestment and mismanagement. Diseases like cholera and typhoid are on the rebound, and the French army recently intervened to distribute water and quell tensions over supplies. The crisis is a wake-up call to the French government about the challenges and cost of managing human-caused climate change across France’s far-flung territories. Racha Mousdikoudine, a 38-year-old mother of two living in Labattoir, washes dishes with bottled water, when she can get it. When the water taps run, she says, “I have to choose between taking a shower or preserving my water supply.

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    Bali Is On A Mission To Become An Organic Island To Improve Tourism
    Water & FoodOctober 30, 2023

    Bali Is On A Mission To Become An Organic Island To Improve Tourism

    Photo Retrieved from thebalisun.com Bali is on a mission to become an organic island. Once upon a time, Bali was an island of integrated food forests and villages that spanned from the highest ridge lines down to the ocean reefs. Over the last few decades, farming methods have changed dramatically across the world. Local politician and ex-Governor of Bali, Made Mangku Pastika, has confirmed that Bali must start the transition to an organic-only model to help improve the fertility of the land and quality of the produce and, in turn, establish the island as an ‘expensive’, premier destination in the eyes of tourists. During a meeting with local farmers and agricultural leaders Pastika shared, “If we don’t use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the quality of agricultural precuts will be[better and healthier for consumption](https://bali-antaranews-com.translate.goog/berita/328182/pastika-pulau-organik-jadikan-bali-lebih-mahal-dan-subur-di-mata-turis?_x_tr_sl=id&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp).” Members from the Simantri Integrated Agricultural System group, which is made up of farmers from around the province, joined Pastika to discuss the transition, or rather de-transition to organic farming as standard. Pastika shared, “When I was Governor of Simantri Group [the concept] was developed. The idea at the time was an effort to help care for Bali in the midst of a dense population.” He added that organic produce can be sold for higher prices and that international tourists have consistently shown interest in these more premium products, whether that be coffee, vegetables, fruits, grains, or meat.

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    Rampant Heatwaves Are A Growing Threat To Caribbean Food Security
    Water & FoodOctober 3, 2023

    Rampant Heatwaves Are A Growing Threat To Caribbean Food Security

    Photo retrieved from forbes.com Record-breaking heat that has been beating down on the Caribbean for the past few months poses a grave threat to regional food security. Unprecedented temperatures are impacting soil and water, worker productivity and income, food prices and trade— with consequences for the availability, accessibility and affordability of major crops, fish stocks, livestock… and even imported food. Driven by climate change, a strong [El Niño](https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/el-nino/) climate pattern and a much warmer than usual tropical north Atlantic, heat waves—temperatures that exceed the 90th percentile of the region’s historical range— have affected both marine and terrestrial food sources. “Through successive COPs [United Nations Climate Change Conferences] we have heard repeated warnings about the imperative of limiting global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels,” says Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of the Organization of Eastern European States (OECS). “Global warming is creating hell on earth for Small Island Developing States (SIDS)— a rapid onslaught apocalypse.” The Caribbean Regional Climate Center [reported](https://rcc.cimh.edu.bb/files/2023/08/caricofsondjf.pdf) record-breaking temperatures across the region between May and August 2023, with forecasts of continued heat stress in the region through October, with ongoing increasing temperatures, humidity and frequency of heatwaves expected to rival prior records. Higher than normal temperatures are forcasted to extend into 2024, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that these weather extremes will become the “[new norm](https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/extreme-weather-new-norm).”

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    Kiribati: The remote island nation facing a triple threat to health
    Water & FoodJune 1, 2023

    Kiribati: The remote island nation facing a triple threat to health

    Photo: Retrieved from msfsouthasia.org Kiribati is one of the most remote and geographically dispersed countries in the world. It is also one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of the climate crisis. The country faces has described as a triple threat to health: communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the health impacts of climate change. Climate and environmental changes are exacerbating Kiribati’s high burden of disease. Kiribati faces air and sea temperature rises, storm surges and high winds, erosion, drought and flooding. This poses direct and indirect threats to human health, including injury, disease outbreaks and malnutrition. MSF has been working in Kiribati since October 2022, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, to improve maternal and paediatric care. An MSF paediatrician, obstetrician, midwife and paediatric nurse are working alongside i-Kiribati ministry of health staff to provide health care in the country’s main hospital and to help build capacity among local health staff. An MSF team has also worked on the outer islands, training nurses on neonatal care and screening for women who have high-risk pregnancies due to the very high rates of gestational diabetes.

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