Vanuatu prepares for drought period on water, food supply

Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-18 15:21:47|Editor: huaxia

SUVA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Existing drought conditions in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu will continue into the next three months, the Early Action Rainfall (EAR) Watch under the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD) said on Tuesday.

According to Vanuatu's English newspaper Daily Post, Vanuatu's capital city of Port Vila was still in very dry conditions up to last month.

As Alert 1 Dry is still in place for the capital, there is a chance that the existing droughts occurring within these locations and nearby areas will continue for the next three months.

The VMGD encourages people living in the areas and communities that have poor access to the water supply to be resilient and be prepared in advance for the drought. Whenever there is a drought, food sources can also be affected as crops and livestock may die.

Pakoa Leo, project officer of the Van Kirap project funded by the Global Climate Fund said in earlier reports that the Coast Adaptation program funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) from 2016 to 2019 involved research into developing crops which could withstand droughts.

Leo said droughts would affect drought-resist food supply like sweet potatoes and taros, which is a starchy root vegetable originally cultivated in Asia but now enjoyed around the world.

He said research is currently being carried out on Santo at the Vanuatu Agriculture Research and Training Center (VARTC) under the Van Kirap project through mutation breeding to further strengthen the resistance of the sweet potatoes and taros from four months to six months or more.

Leo added they are also developing a mobile app for farmers, and once the app is ready, farmers on any of the islands can access such information for their specific location such as the right time for weeding and mulching.

Jeff Boar, manager of the Shefa Breeding Center of the Vanuatu Livestock Department said they were also doing research into creating hybrid chickens which should have the resilience to drought.

With cattle and pigs, more research is being carried out in developing drought-resistant feed as well.

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