Context
Vanuatu is one of the countries most at risk for natural disasters, with cyclones posing a significant hazard. Over the past eight years, Vanuatu has experienced eight cyclones, including four that were Category 3 or higher. In the last three years alone, the country faced three severe cyclones—Harold, Judy, and Kevin—reaching Categories 4 and 5.
With 64% of the population living within 1 km of the coast and 99% within 10 km, there is a high vulnerability to storm surges and coastal damage.
Cyclones frequently damage gardens and agricultural areas, which are crucial for the 75-80% of the population that relies on them for food. Disruptions also occur in water supply, livelihoods, and education, along with damage to infrastructure, including homes. According to ActionAid’s Community Resilience Index in Vanuatu (2017), Ni-Vanuatu women are disproportionately less resilient due to various economic and institutional factors.
Project Summary
This project will support ActionAid’s Women I TokTok Tugeta (WITTT) network in Vanuatu, and the Women’s Economic Hubs which support smallholder women farmers to develop businesses and resilience to climate change and climate-related disasters. Building on previous successes, 600 smallholder women farmers from the Economic Hubs, including women with disabilities, will be supported to develop and strengthen their farming businesses.
The project will focus on strengthening collective vegetable farming. WITTT members from Malo have already started collectively growing vegetables and root crops using agroecology techniques, meaning they do not use inorganic fertilisers or pesticides and use techniques to enhance soil carbon. Activities will include training 13 women farmers on climate-resistant farming practices, including updating their business plans, providing fencing and tools to ease their labour burden and protect farms, and installing a structure to operate as a food bank to store vegetables for consumption, sale and for use in times of need.
Project duration: (2023 – 2024)
Supported by the Australian Ethical Foundation