Vanuatu National Food Summit-A Public-Private-Civic Catalogue to Dicuss Food Security and Health in Vanuatu

 In August 2008, Pacific leaders at the 39th Pacific Island Forum, held in Niue, acknowledged the high importance of food security as an emerging issue. The leaders committed their governments to "immediate action to address food security issues nationally and where possible, regionally, through a range of measures across key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, health, trade and transport". Similar concerns had been widely discussed and recommended at the 7th Pacific Health Ministers Meeting in March 2007 held in Vanuatu for a whole-of-society approach to noncommunicable disease prevention and control, a regional approach to food fortification, including the convening of a food summit with representatives of key ministries; health, agriculture, trade and finance. This decision had received strong support from the Pacific island countries Agriculture Ministers Meeting and the Trade Ministers Meeting. In his official speech the acting Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Ham Lini reiterated the Government commitment to ensure…” that all the progress being made and the ideas being developed will be on the table for the Pacific Islands Food Summit and the agenda for the next Pacific Island Forum meeting”. Furthermore the current global economic crisis is negatively impacting economic growth, trade employment and health in the Pacific islands countries including Vanuatu. In this context, "food security" has become an issue of national priority as commodity prices fluctuate but generally trend higher that they have been in recent years. Political leaders and communities around the world and closer to home are recognizing the impact that climate change is having on economies and agriculture production and therefore food security and health.