Call to prioritise food security in Ontong Java
Quoting the Island Sun newspaper – 21 November 2019
“FOOD security in Ontong Java should be prioritized as the Atoll Islands faces environmental, social and economic challenges in the future, a documentary film maker from the Netherlands Guus Schuijl says.
“He said the bush gardens will not yield anything anymore in the near future so it is important to prioritise better shipping and supplies of food.
“I have noticed how salt water affects the crops growing at the ocean sides of the bush gardens.
“After a few weeks on the atoll, many families started to run out of food. I was on the island of Pelau when canoes came from Luagniua and Tasman Island looking for rice.
“These are expensive trips to make and these people must have been desperate if they were willing to pay such high prices for rice,” he said.
“It seems dangerous to me that people are living at such small supplies. If something would happen to the shipping for instance cyclone or due to political reasons, people could be in real trouble and they won't have the bush gardens to fall back on if they're not protected by the rising seas.”
Copyright @ 2019, Island Sun newspaper.
