Table 4.3 Number of productive fruit and nut trees owned and used by one extended ..... when she went to Malo in 1998, and generally sharing her experiences of Malo and ...... the easy existence on board ship, where he would have good ki-ki ..... robbed of his box and might well be killedâ (Scarr 1967: 9). ...... Peanut butter.
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY: LAND USE AND AGRICULTURE ON MALO ISLAND, VANUATU
Matthew Grant Allen
A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Science of The Australian National University February 2001
Except where it is otherwise acknowledged in the text, this thesis represents the original research of the author.
Matthew Grant Allen
ii
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... vvii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iviii Abstract ..................................................................................................................................x Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................................................. xi Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................................1 Organisation of the thesis ....................................................................................................4 Research methods .................................................................................................................6 Literature ............................................................................................................................6 Malo .................................................................................................................................6 Vanuatu ...........................................................................................................................7 The Pacific .......................................................................................................................8 Information collected in the field ....................................................................................9 Subsistence agriculture .................................................................................................9 Trade and income ........................................................................................................10 Changes over time .......................................................................................................10 Chapter Two: The Setting ...................................................................................................11 Location ................................................................................................................................11 Climate .................................................................................................................................13 Geology, land-form and soil .............................................................................................16 Population............................................................................................................................19 Vegetation and land use ....................................................................................................21 Economy and infrastructure .............................................................................................23 Society ..................................................................................................................................25 Land tenure .........................................................................................................................26 Food supply and distribution ...........................................................................................29 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................35 Chapter Three: The History Of Malo ................................................................................36 Pre-history ...........................................................................................................................37 Contact with Europeans ....................................................................................................40 Population............................................................................................................................44 Pre-contact population change ......................................................................................46 Post-contact population change ....................................................................................47 Society and culture .............................................................................................................47 Pre-contact society and culture .....................................................................................47 Post-contact society and culture....................................................................................49 Agriculture ..........................................................................................................................50 Pre-contact agriculture ...................................................................................................50 Post-contact agriculture..................................................................................................53 Economy ..............................................................................................................................54 Pre-contact economy .......................................................................................................54 Post-contact economy .....................................................................................................54 The development of smallholder copra production ...............................................54 iii
Other cash cropping developments ..........................................................................56 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................56 Chapter Four: Subsistence Agriculture ............................................................................58 Shifting cultivation .............................................................................................................58 The shifting cultivation cycle.........................................................................................60 Site selection .................................................................................................................61 Cutting ...........................................................................................................................63 Burning ..........................................................................................................................65 Cropping .......................................................................................................................66 Fallowing.......................................................................................................................71 One island, two systems ....................................................................................................72 Arboriculture .......................................................................................................................72 Ownership of fruit and nut trees ..................................................................................73 Fruit and nut tree densities ............................................................................................75 Breadfruit..........................................................................................................................79 Subsistence agricultural production ................................................................................79 West Malo .........................................................................................................................80 East Malo ..........................................................................................................................80 Yield estimates .................................................................................................................80 Yams...............................................................................................................................81 Fiji taro ...........................................................................................................................82 Banana ...........................................................................................................................82 Areas cultivated per person ...........................................................................................83 Production estimates ......................................................................................................84 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................85 Chapter Five: Trade And Income .......................................................................................87 Income ..................................................................................................................................88 Income estimates .............................................................................................................88 A note on the distribution of income ........................................................................90 Copra .................................................................................................................................95 Smallholder copra production and marketing ........................................................99 Cocoa ...............................................................................................................................102 History of cocoa production on Malo .....................................................................102 Smallholder cocoa production and marketing ......................................................103 The Luganville Market .................................................................................................104 The history of the Luganville market......................................................................105 A note on field methods and the routine of marketing ........................................106 The vendors ................................................................................................................109 The diversity of marketed products ........................................................................110 The quantity of products marketed ........................................................................113 Market prices and the value of products sold .......................................................117 Other sources of income on Malo ...............................................................................122 Wages...........................................................................................................................123 Remittances .................................................................................................................123 Minor cash crops and other minor sources of income .........................................124 Moving food ......................................................................................................................125 Local food .......................................................................................................................125 iv
Store-purchased food imports .....................................................................................129 The distribution of store-purchased foods .............................................................132 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................132 Chapter Six: Food Security And Sustainability ............................................................134 The food supply situation on Malo in 1997 ..................................................................135 The adequacy of the contemporary food supply system: the question of food security ...............................................................................................................................141 Consistency of food supply over the course of a year and resilience to minor climatic events ...............................................................................................................143 Resilience to major climatic events and economic variability ................................146 Food quality (nutrition) ................................................................................................149 The adequacy of the contemporary resource exploitation system: the question of sustainability .....................................................................................................................151 Theories of agricultural intensification ......................................................................152 Agrarian change in the pre-contact period................................................................155 Agrarian change in the post-contact period ..............................................................157 Chapter Seven: Conclusion ...............................................................................................164 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................168 Appendix: Yam Cultivation On Malo .............................................................................178 History and diversity of yams cultivated in Vanuatu.................................................178 The diversity of yams cultivated on Malo ....................................................................179 Yam planting, magic and rituals ....................................................................................182 Yams as a social commodity ...........................................................................................184
L IST OF T ABLES Table 2.1 Food crops cultivated in gardens .....................................................................31 Table 2.2 Fruit, nut and some other useful trees .............................................................33 Table 3.1 Quantity and area of European owned cash crop plantations in the New Hebrides in 1948, by island ...................................................................... 42 Table 3.2 Pre-1967 Malo population estimates ................................................................45 Table 3.3 Malo population estimates, 1890–1997 ............................................................46 Table 4.1 Percentage of total area cultivated in 1996 allocated to each garden type ........................................................................................................................ 60 Table 4.2 Proportion of each yam species planted in 1997 alolona gardens.................67 Table 4.3 Number of productive fruit and nut trees owned and used by one extended family in Ataripoi .............................................................................. 75 Table 4.4 Densities of fruit and nut trees in various locations on Malo ......................77 Table 4.5 Yield estimates for four yam species ................................................................81 Table 4.6 Yield estimates for Fiji taro ...............................................................................82 Table 4.7 Yield estimates for banana ................................................................................83 Table 4.8 Average areas cultivated annually per person ..............................................84 Table 4.9 Production estimates of the three most important food crops on Malo ..... 85 Table 5.1 Estimates of income on Malo in 1997 ...............................................................89 Table 5.2 Copra production for copra producing islands in Vanuatu in 1989 ........... 97 Table 5.3 Prices paid for copra produced on Malo, current at December 1997 ........ 100 v
Table 5.4 Prices paid for cocoa produced on Malo, current at December 1997 ........ 104 Table 5.5 Presences of vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997, by village of origin .............................................. 109 Table 5.6 Vegetables offered for sale by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 .................................................... 111 Table 5.7 Fruits offered for sale by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 .................................................... 112 Table 5.8 Other products offered for sale by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 ................................ 113 Table 5.9 Quantity of products offered for sale, and actually sold, by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997...................................................................................................................... 114 Table 5.10 Average prices per kilogram of products offered for sale at the Luganville market ............................................................................................. 117 Table 5.11 Value of products offered for sale, and actually sold, by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997...................................................................................................................... 119 Table 5.12 Prices paid for vanilla, chilli, black and white pepper and canarium nuts, current at December 1997 ....................................................................... 125 Table 5.13 Estimates of the flow of marketed and non-marketed local food products, to and from Malo, between June and December 1997 ............... 127 Table 5.14 Estimates of the quantity, value and energy content of store purchased food products imported to Malo in 1997 ................................... 130 Table 6.1 Estimated total production of staple food crops on Malo in 1997 ............. 136 Table 6.2 Exports of staple food crops from Malo in 1997 and volume remaining after export ...................................................................................... 137 Table 6.3 Net-production and imports of staple crops on Malo in 1997 ...................138 Table 6.4 Daily energy available from staple starchy crops produced on Malo, from imported local foods, and from imported store purchased foods in 1997 ................................................................................................................. 138 Table A1 Number of yam cultivars on Malo .................................................................180 Table A2 The 10 most frequently planted yam cultivars on Malo and average weight ................................................................................................................. 182
vi
L IST OF F IGURES Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 2.3 Figure 2.4 Figure 2.5 Figure 2.6 Figure 2.7 Figure 2.8 Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2 Figure 5.3 Figure 5.4 Figure 5.5 Figure 5.6 Figure A1
Location of Vanuatu in the Pacific....................................................................12 Location of Malo in Vanuatu .............................................................................13 Mean monthly rainfall at Pekoa Station: 1973–97 ..........................................15 Total annual rainfall at Pekoa Station: 1973–97 ..............................................15 Topography and location of roads, boat landings and villages on Malo ...................................................................................................................... 17 Soils of Malo.........................................................................................................17 Malo census boundaries and 1997 population and population density estimates ...............................................................................................................21 Land use and vegetation on Malo ....................................................................22 Copra and cocoa exported from Malo between 1981 and 1997....................98 National production of copra and cocoa between 1983 and 1996 ...............98 Quantity of the top 25 products sold by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 ................................116 Value of the top 25 products sold by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 ................................122 Net flow of local food products to and from Malo between June and December 1997...................................................................................................129 Estimates of the quantity of store-purchased food products imported to Malo in 1997 ..................................................................................................131 Selected yam cultivars grown on Malo..........................................................186
vii
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would never have happened if it was not for my friend Edward Bourke who, over a few beers one night in December 1996, told me that his dad, Dr Mike Bourke (of the ANU), was looking for a student to undertake research in Vanuatu as part of a collaborative research program involving ORSTOM and the ANU. Mike has subsequently also become a great friend, not to mention principal supervisor and mentor. I am particularly grateful to him for taking the time to visit me for two weeks whilst I was in the field. Thanks guys, for making it possible in the first place, and for everything since then. I am indebted to Dr Annie Walter of ORSTOM who was my adviser in Vanuatu. She introduced me to Vanuatu and Malo, assisted me with fieldwork techniques and intermittantly provided me with the finest of sanity-saving French cuisine.
For
supervision I am also grateful to Mr Ken Johnson and Dr Bryant Allen, both of the ANU. Also at the ANU, I would like to thank Dr Dorothy Jauncey (a fellow student of Malo) for assisting with the spelling of vernacular names, collecting some data for me when she went to Malo in 1998, and generally sharing her experiences of Malo and its people. I am also grateful to Kay Dancey for drawing maps and figures, and to Dr Robin Hide for showing me how to survey the area of a Melanesian food garden. Thanks also to Professor Gerald Ward for having me as a Visitor in the Department of Human Geography at the ANU, and to Peder Frantzen for assisting with graphics. In Port Vila, I am grateful to all the staff at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and at ORSTOM, especially Mr Michel Lardy and Dr Jean Christophe Galipaud. I would also like to thank the staff at the Vanautu Land Use Planning Office, the Land Survey Department (Harold Moli Worahesi), the Bureau of Meterology, the Statistics Office (Simil Johnson), the VCMB, and the Farm Support Association (Charles Rogers). On Santo, I would like to thank my fellow students on the ORSTOM program: Fabienne Tzerikiantz, Ferdino Strobel and Delphine Greindl. I am also grateful to the SANMA provincial administration, the Luganville branch of the VCMB (Francis Mantaktak), the Department of Agriculture and Horticulure (particularly Tari Moli Sale), Guilhelm Maistre of Pacific Nuts Ltd and the nurses and doctors at the Luganville hospital. On Malo, my greatest debts are to my host families, Jif Vira and Voliho Joseph (and also Joseph, Jenny and Salé Vira) at Avunatari Village, and Jif Tamata and Vuhoroa viii
Moliuriuri (and also Joseph and Susanne Tamata) at Ataripoi Village. Tengku long olgeta samting. Olgeta taem ting ting blong mi i stap long yufala nomo. Special thanks to Jif Vira, who, in his capacity as a Vanuatu Cultural Center Field Worker for Malo, made the necessary arrangements for the research to be undertaken. I am also most grateful to my tireless assistants who were always willing to weigh another yam or survey another garden: Jif Vira Joseph, Vovai, Toa Tom, Jif Tamata Moliuriuri, Joseph Tamata, Vuvora, and Votari. I would like to thank the following families and individuals on Malo for showing me their gardens, answering my questions and sharing their knowledge. At Avunatari Village: Jif Vira and Voliho Joseph, Joseph and Jenny Vira, Wala Timothy, Toa and Rose Solomon, Toa and Mary Moli, Johnwin and Volima Jea Jea, Pasta Bimbiri, and Toa and Vana Duru. At Nanuku Village: Vira and Volangi Rongo, Hoso and Votari Kitiol, Banibani and Margeret Tom, Toa and Leamas Rongo, Sumbue and Votamata Jacob, Pasta and Wosale Vira, Toa and Lili Tom, Tom and Virani Jacob, Jif Landohi and Vombani Jacob, and Jif Mara and Votaki Aru. At Ataripoi Village: Jif Tamata and Vuhoroa Moliuriuri, Joseph and Susanne Tamata, Vanua and Lona Tamata, Jif and Margeret Worahesi, Sikae and Joyce Alah, Haviha Philip, Winji and Elina Moli, and Tari Vurobearavu. Bigfala tangkyu tumas i go long yufala evriwan. I am also grateful to all the women from Malo who patiently allowed me to weigh and record their cargo as they were en route to the market in Luganville. Thank you also to the store keepers, kava bar operators, transport operators, cooperative societies, and copra and cocoa traders of Malo. Finally, I am grateful to Fred Boi for providing me with raw data from the 1997 Agricultural Census. For financial support I am grateful to Le Ministère Français des Affaires Etrangères for a fieldwork grant in 1997 (which was administered by ORSTOM in Port Vila) and to the Australian National University for a Master Degree Scholarship in 1998. My greatest debts are to Laura Vallee for ‘doing’ the bibliography, assisting with tables and figures, and counselling me through the ‘ups’, and particularly the ‘downs’, of writing a thesis; and to my parents, John and Sandy, for their unconditional support (and for proof-reading).
ix
A BSTRACT The research reported in this thesis comprises a study of the human ecology of a small Melanesian island, Malo Island in northern Vanuatu. This study has been made possible by the fact that all trade conducted between Malo and the outside world passes through a small beach on the south coast of the neighbouring island of Espiritu Santo. Data collected at this beach and on Malo is used to describe the island’s contemporary food supply system both qualitatively and quantitatively (in terms of energy availability). The food supply system is then investigated in terms of food security. This analysis considers the adequacy of past and present food supply systems in the context of economic and climatic variability. The point of departure for this analysis is the literature on food dependency in the Pacific Islands. Any assessment of food security must also consider the sustainability of the resource exploitation system which underpins the food supply system.
However,
sustainability is not something which can be easily measured: it is a process rather than a steady-state. Consequently, the thesis adopts a strong historical perspective so that the contemporary data can be viewed as part of an on-going process of change. The thesis employs theories of agrarian change in the Pacific Islands to seek to understand the underlying processes which have driven change on Malo, with particular reference to the past 100 years or so. It is argued that the contemporary food supply system is robust and certainly superior to the system which, to the best of our knowledge, existed in the past. It is further argued that, in spite of the high population densities on some parts of Malo, there is no evidence of land degradation having occurred as a consequence of the dual ‘pressure’ of population growth and extensive cash crop (coconut) cultivation. Indeed, the recent historical record suggests that people on Malo have been able to constantly adapt their land management regimes in response to both pressures and opportunities, and in doing so have avoided degrading their environment. These conclusions present a challenge to the common portrayal of Pacific Islands as isolated, resource poor and increasingly over-populated, food dependent and vulnerable to economic and environmental variability.
x
A CRONYMS AND A BBREV IATIONS ADB
Asian Development Bank
ANU
Australian National University
DAH
Vanuatu Department of Agriculture and Horticulture
ENSO
El Niño Southern Oscillation
FAO
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
FSA
Farmer Support Association (Vanuatu)
IBSRAM
International Board for Soil Research and Management
IRD
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (formerly ORSTOM)
NGO
Non-governmental Organisation
PNG
Papua New Guinea
PRAP
Pacific Regional Agriculture Programme
ORSTOM
Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer
SPREP
South Pacific Regional Environment Programme
VANRIS
Vanuatu Resource Information System
VCMB
Vanuatu Commodities Marketing Board
WHO
World Health Organisation
xi
Chapter One
Introduction
C HAPTER O NE : I NTRODUCTIO N The research reported in this thesis arose in response to a real-life situation which provided a unique opportunity to investigate a conceptual, or theoretical, problem. In March 1996, an ORSTOM program, entitled Se nourrir à Santo, commenced under the direction of Dr Annie Walter and Dr Jean Christophe Galipaud (Galipaud and Walter 1997). A primary objective of the project was to investigate food supply and distribution in SANMA Province, with particular reference to the linkages between urban and rural areas. In October 1996, Dr Walter and Dr Mike Bourke (of the Australian National University [ANU]) visited Malo Island (‘Malo’), and observed that a beach on the south coast of neighbouring Espiritu Santo Island (‘Santo’) appeared to be a ‘funnel’ through which goods and people moved between Malo and Santo. This situation presented the enticing possibility of a comprehensive survey of Malo’s economy: a truly unique opportunity to study the island as a single and complete unit. This was the research opportunity. The research problem was, and still is, the problem of ‘development’ in general (how to transform an ‘undeveloped’ or ‘underdeveloped’ society into a ‘developed’ one); and of small, isolated, resource poor, and increasingly over-populated and ‘food dependent’ Pacific Islands in particular. This problem is constantly reified in the 1
mainstream literature on development in the Pacific Islands. In the case of Vanuatu, a number of recent ‘development reports’ would have the reader believe that people throughout the archipelago have become ‘dependent’, for their well being, on cash crop production and imported food consumption; and are consequently ‘vulnerable’ to natural disasters (cyclones and droughts) and variations in the international market prices of export tree crop commodities (copra, cocoa and coffee). It is further 2
claimed that population growth and high population densities on some islands are placing ‘pressure’ on the land (a situation which is compounded by the expansion of cash cropping) and that this is a matter of considerable ‘concern’. The fundamental objective of the thesis is to investigate the validity of these sorts of assertions in the specific case of Malo. An appropriate way to achieve this objective
The Pacific Islands (sometimes referred to as the South Pacific) are defined as the islands of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. Vanuatu is part of Melanesia, a region which consists of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji (Brookfield with Hart 1971: xliv– xlv). The thesis sometimes refers to Island Melanesia, which is geographically defined as a set of archipelagoes which stretch from north-west to south-east, encompassing the Bismark Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia (Spriggs 1997: 1–21). See for example Environment and Development: A Pacific Island Perspective which was the supporting technical document for The Pacific Way: Pacific Island Developing Countries’ Report to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (Thistlethwaite and Votaw 1992) and was largely 1
2
1
Chapter One
Introduction
is through a detailed analysis of food security.
The Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) defines food security as follows: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2000).
This definition can be
improved by the addition of an intergenerational equity requirement, similar to the ‘future generations’ ethic which characterises the concept of ‘sustainable development’: “Sustainable development seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability to meet those of the future” (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987: 40).
3
Thus perhaps we could define ‘food security’ as meeting the food security (as defined by the FAO) needs of present generations without compromising the food security needs of future generations. Following this definition, an analysis of food security in any given location must investigate the following key questions: •
What is the food supply system?
•
How adequate is it?
•
How adequate, or sustainable, is the broader resource exploitation system which underpins it?
4
With regard to the first of these questions, the information collected in the field enables the contemporary food supply system on Malo to be described qualitatively, and also empirically in terms of energy (kilocalorie) availability.
The second
question is investigated by comparing past and present food supply systems in terms
based on the Vanuatu Country Report for UNCED (SPREP 1992); and the United Nations report Sustainable Human Development in Vanuatu (United Nations 1996). The body of literature concerning environmental and/or economically sustainable development is vast and its comprehensive review is beyond the scope of this thesis. It is suffice to say that there is a general schism in the literature between those who regard sustainability as a steady-state and those who regard it as a process. Following Brookfield (1991) and Blatz (1992), I prefer to regard sustainability as a process. According to Blatz: ”Sustainability is a property of a series of interconnected uses extending over some period of time, not a particular use at any one time” [original emphasis](1992: 25). Similarly, Brookfield states: “The progressive substitution of one resource for another, progressive improvements through artifice and technology in the ways in which both renewable and non-renewable resources are managed, improvements in efficiency in the use of energy and the conversion of resources into useful products, and organisational adaptations which improve the return to land, labour and capital…are historical facts, and the means by which all sustainable development has been achieved” (1991: 51–52). For Brookfield “…the essential quality of historically sustained development is continual adaptation” (1991: 50). Land is identified as the key resource on Malo. For the purposes of sustainability, land must be regarded as a renewable resource which, if exploited beyond the limits of “natural reproduction plus restorative human management”, will become non-renewable (see Blaikie and Brookfield 1987). Of course land is not a static resource: land degradation (or enhancement) may occur as a result of ‘natural’ processes, completely independent of human interference or management. 3
4
2
Chapter One
Introduction
of: consistency of food supply over the course of a year, vulnerability to environmental and economic variability, and food quality (nutrition). The final question introduces a strong temporal theme and forces the discussion to be placed in a broader historical context. It is argued that the most appropriate way to assess the sustainability of resource exploitation on Malo is to attempt to understand how and why land use and agriculture on the island have developed in the ways that they have. This analysis will draw upon the literature on agrarian change in the 5
Pacific in order to investigate the possible causes of change on Malo over the past 100 years or so, including population growth and the dual conversion to Christianity and capitalism.
6
Agricultural intensification has been a key element of agrarian change on Malo in both the pre- and post-contact periods. The terms ‘(agricultural) intensification’ and ‘innovation’ are used throughout the thesis.
Following Brookfield (1972),
intensification means to increase inputs of factors of production other than land (that is, labour, capital or technology), over fixed land, with the explicit objective of increasing production. An innovation is anything “…which introduces qualitative changes to the system of production” (Brookfield 1984). Importantly, intensification often
brings
about
changes
which
must
be
overcome
by
innovation:
“…intensification without innovation is likely to lead to land degradation” (Allen et al. 1995b). Therefore, innovation frequently occurs in response to intensification, though it will be seen that innovations may also be motivated by other factors. The answers to the questions posed above will challenge the reified problem of development in the Pacific Islands. It will be demonstrated that people on Malo are not ‘dependent’, for their food security, on cash crop production and imported food consumption; and nor are they ‘vulnerable’ to natural disasters and the vicissitudes of world commodity prices. Furthermore, although population densities on some parts of Malo are amongst the highest in Vanuatu, there is no evidence of land degradation occurring as a result of the combined ‘pressure’ of population growth and cash crop expansion.
This approach is consistent with the conceptualisation of sustainability as a process rather than a state. According to Allen et al. (1995b: 302): “If a ‘sustainable’ agricultural system can be said to ‘exist’ at any particular point in time, it will be the outcome of the process of evolution and adaptation of human societies and their environments, which has been occurring for thousands of years”. Broadly speaking, the past 100 years represents the on-going period of sustained contact between Europeans (and other outsiders) and people on Malo. It is also a period which is relatively accessible through both published and oral histories. However, an analysis of agrarian change during this period must also consider the dynamics of agrarian change in the period immediately prior to contact. The thesis therefore delineates two historical periods: ‘pre-’ and ‘post-contact’, but is primarily concerned with the latter. 5
6
3
Chapter One
Introduction
Perhaps more importantly, the findings reported in this thesis challenge the fundamental ideas which inform not only the substance, but also the tone of many contemporary development reports. It is commonly implied that Pacific Islanders are passive victims of an exploitative global economic system over which they have little or no control, an idea which informs the pessimistic (and sometimes hysterical) tone of statements concerning food dependency, vulnerability, population growth and resource scarcity.
The evidence from Malo suggests that these ideas are
erroneous. People on Malo have historically demonstrated that they are very much the masters of their own destinies. They have proven themselves to be extremely competent land managers who have consistently adapted and innovated their land management regimes in response to both perceived opportunities and constraints. This history suggests that people on Malo will continue to find innovative ways of ensuring that their land use and food security remain sustainable, at least for the foreseeable future. In this manner the problem of Pacific island development could perhaps be rearticulated as an opportunity which has innovative people, rather than physical constraints, at its centre.
O RG AN ISATIO N
O F TH E T H ESIS
The next two chapters (Two and Three) provide background for the quantitative information which is presented in Chapters Four and Five, and for the discussion of food security, agrarian change and sustainability which is presented in Chapter Six. Chapter Two describes the contemporary human and physical geographies of Malo and introduces a distinction between the eastern and western sides of the island, a distinction which is developed throughout the thesis.
It is also hoped that the
chapter provides some impression of what it is like to live on Malo and to be Maloese. Chapter Three consists of a brief history of Malo.
The chapter establishes an
historical context (derived from published sources and from interviews conducted on Malo) which is essential to comprehending the contemporary situation on Malo. Moreover, it allows the contemporary data to be viewed as dynamic and as part of an on-going history of change and adaptation (as opposed to a static ‘snap shot’ which does not lend itself to an analysis of sustainability).
The appropriate historical
context is one of agricultural, economic, social and cultural change. The important and quite dramatic history of demographic change on Malo is examined in some depth. 4
Chapter One
Introduction
Chapter Four presents the first of two main sets of quantitative data: data relating to subsistence agriculture. The key objective of the chapter is to present estimates of the production of the main staple food crops on the island: yam (Dioscorea spp.), Fiji taro (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) and banana (Musa cvs.).
A secondary objective is to
provide a rich description of subsistence agriculture, including information concerning land use intensity and arboriculture (the cultivation of trees).
The
chapter also further develops the distinction between East and West Malo, as it relates to subsistence agriculture in particular.
7
Chapter Five presents the second main quantitative data set, which relates to trade and income. Estimates are made of the cash income derived from the three main sources of income on Malo: copra, cocoa and the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables at the market in Luganville (which is a town on Santo). Estimates are also made of the 8
quantities of food imported and exported to and from the island, including both locally-produced foods and store-purchased foods.
9
The chapter also describes
inequalities in the distribution of income on Malo, particularly geographical inequalities between East and West. Chapter Six combines the contemporary and historical data to investigate the issues of food security and sustainability of land use, in general; and to attempt to answer the three questions posed above, in particular.
The contemporary food supply
system is described qualitatively and also in terms of the proportion of daily energy requirements derived from locally-produced foods and from store-purchased foods, respectively. This information is used to challenge the assertion that contemporary food supply systems in the Pacific Islands are inferior, in terms of food security, to the so-called ‘traditional’ systems which they are supposedly supplanting.
The
chapter then moves on to consider the broader question of the sustainability of land use on Malo. This discussion employs theories of agrarian change in the Pacific to
The terms East and West Malo have been capitalised for a number of reasons. Firstly, Malo is divided into two Provincial administrative districts: one in the north-west and one in the south-east. However, in light of the very low population densities on the north coast of the island, the district boundary essentially delineates populations on the east and west sides of the island, and the terms East and West Malo are common parlance amongst the island’s residents. Secondly, there are significant cultural and linguistic differences between East and West Malo, though it should be noted that these differences are becoming less pronounced. Finally, it will be seen in Chapter Four that there are enough differences in the agricultural systems of East and West Malo to justify the delineation of two separate agricultural systems on the island. Virtually all of Malo’s external trade is conducted with Luganville, which is the capital of SANMA Province and Vanuatu’s ‘second town’ after the capital Port Vila. Although Luganville is small even by Pacific standards (with an estimated 1997 population of about 10,000 persons), its population has been growing rapidly over the past 40 years and continues to do so. The town is often referred to as Santo and also as Canal. Locally-produced foods refers to foods which are grown or reared on Malo or elsewhere in Vanuatu (or manufactured from locally-produced ingredients); whilst ‘store-purchased’ foods refers to foods 7
8
9
5
Chapter One
Introduction
investigate the possible causes of changes in agriculture and land use on Malo in both the pre-contact and post-contact periods, but with particular reference to the latter period. Chapter Seven draws out the broader implications of the results from Malo arguing that if the development problem is erroneous in the case of Malo then it is also likely to be incorrect for many other parts of Vanuatu and the Pacific in general. The chapter proposes some macro-economic policy and agricultural research and extension agendas which are deemed appropriate for supporting and promoting food security and sustainable development on Malo and in places like it.
R ESEARCH
M ETH O D S
The research reported in this thesis is based on published and unpublished written material (‘literature’); and on qualitative and quantitative information collected on Malo and in other parts of Vanuatu during a period of eight months field work in 1997.
Literature The following sub-section provides an overview of the main sources of written information — on Malo, Vanuatu and the Pacific — which are referred to in the thesis.
Malo The earliest known publications concerning Malo are letters and short articles written by Presbyterian missionaries who first took up residence on the island in 1887. These were published in journals such as Quarterly Jottings from the New Hebrides. Fortunately these, and many other sources, have been combined into a single history of the Presbyterian mission on Malo (Miller 1990).
This document contains
particularly useful information concerning demographic change on the island. Another excellent source of historical information on Malo is Robert Rubinstein’s doctoral thesis titled: Placing the self on Malo: an account of the culture of Malo Island, New Hebrides (1978). This thesis provides an invaluable insight into the ethnographic period on Malo and it is referred to extensively in discussions of pre-contact society and culture, and customary land tenure. Other sources of information on Malo which are referred to in the thesis include: John Hedrick’s draft doctoral thesis and subsequent journal articles concerning which are either imported to Vanuatu (such as Australian rice) or manufactured in Vanuatu from imported ingredients (such as bread). 6
Chapter One
Introduction
archaeological work which he undertook in the 1960s (Hedrick n.d., 1971; Hedrick and Hedrick 1975); a report of a more recent archaeological expedition conducted in 1997 (Galipaud 1998); Dorothy Jauncey’s doctoral thesis titled: A grammar of Tamambo, the language of Western Malo (1997); an article by Vula Vutilolo (who is from Malo) on customary land tenure (1984); an article on hermaphrodite pigs (McIntyre 1997); and a number of papers by Annie Walter which include information on arboriculture on Malo (Walter and Sam 1992, 1993; Walter n.d.).
10
Vanuatu The best general text on agriculture in Vanuatu is Barry Weightman’s book, Agriculture in Vanuatu: a Historical Review (1989). This book is particularly useful because of its historical perspective and it is referred to throughout the thesis. Recent publications produced by the Vanuatu Department of Agriculture and Horticulture (DAH) (1996), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) (1997) and the Vanuatu Statistics Office (‘Statistics Office’) (1997), provide background information on subsistence gardening and cash cropping in Vanuatu. A recent survey of agricultural systems on eight islands in the archipelago provides comparative material for the data collected on Malo (Bourke 1999b). Wilson (1988) and Wheatley (1992) provide guides which 11
have been used to identify yam and tree species respectively. The extensive publications of Joël Bonnemaison form a body of work which is invaluable to the study of agrarian change in Vanuatu. His early articles concerning the relationships between cash cropping, population growth, subsistence agriculture and migration are particularly useful (1977, 1978); as is his study of the history and ethnography of Tanna, and of Vanuatu in general (1986, 1994). Michael Allen (1968) provides an account of the origins of Christianity and cash cropping on Ambae; and Margaret Rodman’s (1987) book about the same island provides comparative insights into customary land tenure and land distribution on Malo.
The only other publications (which I know of) which are wholly or partially based on research conducted on Malo are: Dickenson (1971) and Anson (1986) on archaeology; Gowers (1976) and Wheatley (1992) on common and useful tree species; Dickie (1984) on biomedical anthropology (doctoral research conducted on Malo); and Bregulla (1991) on birds. A national agricultural census was undertaken in 1983, and again in 1992 (Statistics Office 1994), but these are of limited relevance because the data from Malo was aggregated with data from the rest of SANMA Province. Note that information on aspects of agriculture and land use in different parts of Vanuatu are also provided by the various reports of: the Regional Root Crops Development Project (Van Wijmeersch and Bule 1988); the Farm Support Association (Rogers 1994; Kaoh 1995); the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (Siwatibau n.d.); the Pacific Regional Agricultural Programme (PRAP) (Bule and Schwanz n.d.); and the IBSRAM Pacficland programme (Ferrandon et al. 1998). 10
11
7
Chapter One
Introduction
The various maps which appear in Chapter Two have been adapted from the Vanuatu Resource Information System (VANRIS 1992), the ORSTOM ‘soil atlas’ (Quantin 1981, 1982) and the 1:100,000 topographic map series (Le Service Topographique du Government des Nouvelles-Hebrides 1979). Weightman (1989: 7) has interpreted the ORSTOM soil classification system (which follows the French convention) according to the classification used by the FAO. Previous studies of markets and food distribution in Vanuatu, which are referred to in Chapter Five, include Brookfield (1969), McGee et al. (1980) and more recently Greindl (1997, 1999, 2000). Greindl’s study of the Luganville market is particularly useful and some of her data is used to supplement the market price data presented in Chapter Five. With regard to demographic information, the first official census of the population was undertaken in 1967 (McArthur and Yaxley 1968) and there have been two more since then, in 1979 and 1989 (Statistics Office 1991a). Earlier (unofficial) estimates made by McArthur and Yaxley (1968) are thought to be less reliable, in the specific case of Malo, than the estimates made by Miller (1990). Other general sources on Vanuatu which are referred to in the thesis include: Scarr (1967), Price with Baker (1976), Siegel (1985, 1987) and Shineberg (1999) on the labour trade; Bedford (1973a, 1973b) and Haberkorn (1985, 1989) on migration; MacClancy (1980) on history; Huffman (1996) on traditional exchange networks; and Spriggs (1997) on pre-history.
The Pacific The thesis draws upon a wide variety of sources from the Pacific in general, and from other parts of Melanesia in particular. The discussion of food security in Chapter Six challenges the notion of ‘food dependency’ in the Pacific, as articulated by authors such as McGee (1975), Hamnet et al. (1981) and Thaman (1990). This critique refers to a number of studies which variously consider the relationships between cash income, imported food consumption, agricultural change and food security, including: Jones et al. (1988) and Bathgate (1993) on the Solomon Islands; and Bourke (1990) and Gibson (in press) on Papua New Guinea (PNG). The discussion of food security also refers to a number of papers from a recent conference on food security held in PNG (Bourke et al. in press). The investigation of sustainability of land use on Malo, also in Chapter Six, examines theories of agricultural intensification with particular reference to the Pacific region. Key sources include Boserup (1965), Brookfield (1972, 1984), Yen (1974), Modjeska 8
Chapter One
Introduction
(1977, 1982), Ruthenburg (1980), Kirch (1994) and Allen et al. (1995a, 1995b). The discussion has also been influenced by a number of papers presented at a workshop on intensification held at the ANU in 1998. Note that the broad approach adopted in this research has been strongly influenced by studies of ‘human ecology’ (sometimes referred to as ‘human-environment relations’ ) including Conklin (1957) and Clarke (1971). According to Clarke: 12
As it is now applied to life by anthropologists and geographers, the idea of an ecosystem, which stresses the circularity of the relationship between organisms and environment, makes it easy to consider that environment as both a result of and influence on human behaviour. Man affects the environment; in turn, the changed environment requires new responses from man and acts to rearrange man’s image of his surroundings. Considered thus as components of an ecosystem, both man and the environment are seen as parts of a single unit, the whole of which is worthy of study. Concern shifts from which part most influences the other to the structure of the whole system and how it operates and changes (1971: 200).
Information collected in the field The author conducted field work in Vanuatu between April and December 1997. Most of this time was spent living on Malo, mainly in Avunatari Village on the west coast of the island (with two weeks spent living at Ataripoi Village on the south-east coast of the island). The author also visited various Government departments and Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) in both the capital, Port Vila, and Luganville.
As mentioned above, the information collected in the field is both
quantitative and qualitative in nature.
The nature of the information, and the
methods used to collect it, can be summarised as follows.
Subsistence agriculture Twenty-five households were selected from three different villages (10 households from Nanuku village, eight from Avunatari and seven from Ataripoi). All of the productive food gardens belonging to these households were visited in the field (a total of 253 gardens). Following the methodology employed by Allen et al. (1995a; 1995b) to investigate agricultural intensification in PNG, the following data was
See Ellen (1982) for a comprehensive historical review of the study of human-environment relations. Ellen concludes that: “Human evolutionary processes are therefore a constant two-way interaction between biological adaptation and learned behaviour, and the selective pressure on populations is the result of the conjunction of both ecological and social systems. One continually reinforces the other. This gradual change over time constitutes overall human evolution, but is a synthesis of two interdependent but recognisably separate processes” (1982: 264). Ellen’s assessment of humanenvironment relations indirectly lends weight to the conceptualisation of sustainability as a process rather than a state. 12
9
Chapter One
Introduction
recorded during garden visits: garden area, fallow length, fallow vegetation class, 13
cropping period, cropping sequence, crops planted and planting densities (of the staple crops). Wherever possible, staple crops were weighed in order to estimate yield. Vernacular names of cultivated species and varieties were recorded in order to assess genetic diversity.
A number of fruit and nut tree density counts were
undertaken in various locations in order to ascertain the importance of arboriculture on Malo.
Trade and income A beach on south Santo (known as Naonepan) is a funnel through which people and commodities move to and from Malo, in general; and between Malo and the town of Luganville, in particular. A trade survey was conducted on this beach two days a week for a period of six months. The survey, which is described in greater depth in Chapter Five, recorded the volume (in kilograms) of food crops and other products being exported from Malo to the fresh produce market in Luganville; and also the volume of store-purchased food products (such as rice, flour and tinned fish) being imported to Malo from Luganville. Market price data was obtained at the market house in Luganville and a number of vendors from Malo were interviewed about their marketing activities (with interviews taking place on Malo, at Naonepan, and at the market house in Luganville). Island level production data for copra and cocoa was obtained from the Statistics Office and the Vanuatu Commodities Marketing Board (VCMB) purchasing office in Luganville.
Qualitative data concerning
marketing and the frequency of smallholder export cash crop production was obtained through interviews and observation.
14
Changes over time Interviews were conducted with elderly men and women from both East and West Malo in order to elicit information concerning the history of agricultural, social and economic change on the island. Interviews were conducted in Bislama, a form of Melanesian Pidgin which is the national language of Vanuatu.
Gardens were surveyed with a tape measure and compass, and areas were calculated using Survey soft computer software. Following Fleming (1989: 2) ‘export cash crops’ refers to copra and cocoa. The category is intended to distinguish these cash crops from the fresh produce which is sold at the market in Luganville (sometimes referred to as ‘market cash crops’), and also from the minor cash crops (vanilla, pepper and chilli) which are produced on Malo. 13
14
10
Chapter Two
The Setting
C HAPTER T WO : T HE S ETTING This chapter describes the contemporary human and physical environments of Malo; the people and their place. The objective is to provide baseline data essential to comprehending the main body of the thesis. This includes information concerning geology, soil, climate, land use, infrastructure, economy, society, land tenure and food supply and distribution. Although much of this information is statistical or scientific in nature (needless to say, Malo is being described through the lens of Western empiricism, rather than through the eyes of someone from Malo), it is hoped that the chapter also conveys some sense of what it is like to live on Malo and to be Maloese. Importantly, the chapter also introduces various significant differences which exist between the western and the eastern sides of the island. These differences are biophysical, linguistic, social, economic and agricultural in nature. However, in the context of the thesis as a whole, it is the demographic, economic and agricultural differences between East and West Malo which are of most importance.
L O CATIO N Malo is one of the 74 populated islands of the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific (Figure 2.1).
15
It is situated in the north of the archipelago, just south of
Vanuatu’s largest island, Espiritu Santo, at between 15.6 and 15.8 degrees south latitude, and between 167 and 168 degrees east longitude of Greenwich (Figure 2.2). It is the largest of a series of small islands lying off the south coast of Santo, measuring approximately 18 kilometres in length, with a total surface area of about 185 square kilometres.
Vanuatu was formerly known as the New Hebrides. The New Hebrides was jointly administered by Great Britain and France in a unique colonial arrangement referred to as a condominium. Vanuatu achieved Independence from colonial rule in 1980. 15
11
Chapter Two
Figure 2.1
The Setting
Location of Vanuatu in the Pacific
Malo’s geographic proximity to Santo in general, and to the town of Luganville in particular, has played and continues to play an important role in shaping development and change on the island. Unlike many other small Pacific islands, Malo is not geographically (and hence economically) isolated. To the contrary, its close proximity to an urban centre coupled with its reasonably strong transport and trade links to that centre, places Malo more at the ‘centre’ than at the ‘periphery’ of the Vanuatu economy.
12
Chapter Two
Figure 2.2
The Setting
Location of Malo in Vanuatu
C LIM ATE Weightman describes the general climate of Vanuatu as follows: 13
Chapter Two
The Setting
Vanutau lies in the region of the south-east trade winds which predominate for most of the year. The climate varies from tropical in the north to sub-tropical in the south; however, a wet tropical climate, close to the equatorial type, characterises the greater part of the islands. Seasonal average temperatures range between 21°– 27°C, and average humidity from 75 to 80 per cent (1989: 2). Due to the effects of the trade winds, most islands in Vanuatu, including Malo, have two climatic zones. The south-east or windward sides of the islands tend to have an equatorial type climate with relatively high rainfall; whilst the north-west or leeward sides of the islands generally have a more seasonal rainfall distribution, characterised by a marked dry season. These climatic distinctions are most pronounced on the bigger islands, such as Santo and Malekula, but are also important on the smaller islands such as Malo.
However, both East and West Malo experience seasonal
rainfall distribution, and Malo’s climate is therefore best classified as mid-tropical or sub-equatorial. Unfortunately, there is no reliable rainfall data available for Malo.
The closest
rainfall station for which there is reliable data is at Pekoa Airport on south-east Santo (near Luganville). The mean monthly rainfall recorded at this station for the period 1973–1997 (25 years) is illustrated in Figure 2.3; whilst the total annual rainfall for the same period is illustrated in Figure 2.4. Given the location of the rainfall station in 16
question, the data is more likely to accurately reflect rainfall on the south-east, as opposed to the north-west part of Malo. However, in the absence of available data for the leeward side of the island, the data from Pekoa Airport is used as a surrogate for Malo as a whole.
16
Rainfall data was obtained from the Vanuatu Meteorological Service, Port Vila. 14
Chapter Two
Figure 2.3
The Setting
Mean monthly rainfall at Pekoa Station: 1973–97
350
300
Rainfall (mm)
250
200
150
100
50
0 Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Month
Figure 2.4
Total annual rainfall at Pekoa Station: 1973–97
4000
3500
Rainfall (mm)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
1979
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
1973
0
Year
It can be seen from Figure 2.3 that a distinct dry season occurs between about May and October, though this is likely to be more pronounced on the north-west side of Malo. However, 1997 was certainly not a ‘normal’ year in terms of rainfall. The dry season was particularly dry (with the driest September since 1983), and the total annual rainfall of 1864 mm was well below the long-term (25 year) mean of 2201 mm. 15
Chapter Two
The Setting
Indeed, 1997 was a dry year everywhere in Vanuatu and was probably influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event which caused extreme weather conditions throughout much of the Western Pacific and South-East Asia. This raises the important question of climatic variability.
17
In addition to the
occasional very dry year, Vanuatu is frequently subjected to tropical cyclones, which strike on an average of twice a year, generally between the months of November and April (SPREP 1992: 1). These cyclones are usually localised in nature, but can be devastating in intensity, causing damage to food gardens, tree crops, settlements and infrastructure.
According to Weightman (1989: 2), Vanuatu experienced one
“severe” cyclone in 1951, one 1959, three in 1972 and two in 1985. Cyclone Uma, in 1987, was the most serious cyclone of recent years, causing an estimated $A40 million worth of damage, particularly to infrastructure in the Port Vila area (SPREP 1992: 1).
G EO LO G Y ,
18
LAN D - FO RM AN D SO IL
Geologically, Malo is a young island, characterised by a raised coral limestone plateau, which was uplifted during the Quaternary period; and a low-lying limestone littoral fringe, which was produced during the Holocene period (Quantin 1981: Geology Map). There are two relatively old volcanic structures on the western end of the island which were formed during the Miocene period: Malo Peak (326 m) and to its south, Mbwelinmbwevu (275 m). In West Malo, there are a series of three narrow limestone terraces leading up to the plateau and the escarpments between them are quite steep (Figure 2.5). In East Malo, there is just a single, relatively ‘obtuse’ step leading up to the plateau. The plateau also decreases gradually in altitude from west to east. The limestone littoral fringe is at its broadest on the northern and eastern sides of the island.
According to the Vanuatu Country Report for UNCED: “When the conditions of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) prevail, the changed patterns of rainfall and atmospheric pressure that are part of ENSO may bring periods of drought to Vanuatu” (SPREP 1992: 2). $A = Australian dollars. In 1997 $A1 = 85 vatu. 17
18
16
Chapter Two
The Setting
Figure 2.5
Topography and location of roads, boat landings and villages on Malo
Source:
Adapted from VANRIS topographic map (VANRIS 1992).
Figure 2.6
Soils of Malo 17
Chapter Two
Source:
The Setting
Adapted from ORSTOM soil map (Quantin 1981).
There are four main soil types on Malo (Figure 2.6) (Quantin 1981: Soil Map).
19
The
most common are the humic and weakly desaturated ferrallitic soils which occur on the plateau, and which are considered to be very fertile (Quantin 1982: 25).
20
These
reddish-brown soils are clayey, rich in metahalloysite and geothite minerals, and have a medium polyhedral structure (Weightman 1989: 10). Moderately (as opposed to weakly) desaturated humic ferrallitic soils occur around the edges of the two volcanic peaks. These soils are also very clayey and have a fine polyhedral structure, but are of mediocre fertility due to their acidity and lack of key mineral elements (Quantin 1982: 30; Weightman 1989: 10).
The soil classification described here has been translated from the French system (Quantin 1981, 1982) by Weightman (1989). The terminology is very technical and sometimes the translation is problematic. However, the main point is that the best soils occur on the sides of the two volcanic peaks and on the plateau, whilst the least fertile soils occur on the littoral fringe. There is some degree of spatial variation in the quality of soils on the plateau. This variation is recognised by people on Malo and is reflected in their soil classification system (which is discussed in Chapter Four). 19
20
18
Chapter Two
The Setting
The most fertile soils on the island are the eutrophic brown soils which cover the steep slopes of the two volcanic peaks (where they are rejuvenated by erosion) (Quantin 1982: 25; Weightman 1989: 9). These soils are dusky brown in colour and contain montmorillonitic clays. Unfortunately, the confinement of these soils to the steep slopes of Malo Peak and Mbwelinmbwevu limits their use for agriculture. The limestone littoral fringe is covered by rendzina soils. The rendzinas are dark grey in colour and rich in humus and calcareous materials (Quantin 1982: 24). However they offer limited fertility due to their immaturity, their alkaline pH and their lack of potassium and phosphorus.
P O PULATIO N The population of Malo is essentially 100 per cent Melanesian. Moreover, most people on Malo identify themselves as belonging to Malo, or in other words, as ethnically Maloese. Importantly, there are a number of villages on the east side of the island which are mostly inhabited by migrants from Ambrym and Malekula.
21
With the exception of these migrants, most people on Malo live on their family land which is handed down patrilineally. People live in extended family (patrilocal) hamlets which are usually loosely organised around churches, schools and stores, forming villages of varying sizes and population densities. A typical nuclear family settlement (within a broader family hamlet) consists of a kitchen/eating house, a sleeping house, a bathroom, and a toilet. Most buildings are made almost entirely from local products, though some have cement floors and corrugated iron roofs (instead of the ubiquitous sago palm thatching). The most recent official census of the population of Vanuatu was undertaken in 1989, at which time the population of Malo was 2867, having increased from 2246 in 1979 and 1578 in 1967 (McArthur and Yaxley 1968; Statistics Office 1991a). The average annual rate of population growth on Malo between 1967 and 1989 was 2.75 per cent; which compares with a national average of 2.79 per cent for the same period. A migration survey conducted in 1979 found that Malo had experienced significant net in-migration of about 35 per cent (presumably during the inter-census period — 1967–1979 — though this is not expressly stated in the survey); and was one of only seven islands in Vanuatu which had experienced net in-migration, as opposed to net out-migration, during this period (Haberkorn 1985).
Migrants from north Malekula arrived on Malo in the 1940s to escape tribal warfare, and with the assistance of a Seventh Day Adventist Mission, they were able to purchase land and establish the villages of Avunarara, Amambelao and Tanmial (Rubinstein 1978: 15, 18; Jauncey 1997: 6). People 21
19
Chapter Two
The Setting
Statistic Office (n.d.) population projections (based on an annual growth rate of 2.36 per cent for Malo) places the 1997 population of Malo at about 3450, giving a population density of approximately 18.6 persons per square kilometre for the island as a whole. However, the spatial distribution of population on the island is of crucial importance. Most of the villages on Malo are concentrated around the west coast of the island (see Figure 2.5). Total population densities for each of the 1989 census districts have been converted to estimates for 1997 and are displayed in Figure 2.7. Slightly more than half of the island’s population resides in an area of approximately 40 square kilometres contained within the two census divisions on West Malo. The population density in this area is estimated at about 44 persons per square kilometre, which compares with an estimate of around 11 persons per square kilometre for the remainder of the island.
from Ambrym migrated to Malo in the 1950s following a volcanic eruption on their home island, and purchased land and established the villages of Aviaboe and Sanasa (Rubinstein 1978: 15, 18). 20
Chapter Two
The Setting
Figure 2.7
Malo census boundaries and 1997 population and population density estimates
Source:
Statistics Office (1991b, n.d.).
The population densities of the three study villages also vary quite markedly and reflect the broad distribution of population described above. Population densities in 1997 are estimated at 254 persons per square kilometre for Avunatari, 50 persons per square kilometre for Nanuku, and 13 persons per square kilometre for Ataripoi (Statistics Office 1991b, n.d.).
V EG ETATIO N
AN D LAN D U SE
The pattern of land use and vegetation on Malo is closely related to the island’s settlement pattern and population distribution, as well as to its climate, land-form and soil. The ORSTOM vegetation map (Quantin 1981) provides a clear and accurate representation of current land use and vegetation on Malo (Figure 2.8).
21
Chapter Two
The Setting
Figure 2.8
Land use and vegetation on Malo
Source:
Adapted from ORSTOM vegetation map (Quantin 1981).
It can be seen that all vegetation on the island is anthropogenic in nature. The plateau is mostly used for the shifting cultivation of subsistence food gardens which are more densely planted in the West than in the East.
22
The vegetation on the
plateau therefore consists mostly of food gardens and fallow regrowth of various stages. It will be seen in Chapter Four that fallow lengths are considerably longer in East Malo, where in many areas the secondary forest is at least 50 or 60 years old. The areas on and around Malo Peak and Mbwelinmbwevu consist of dense secondary thicket with dispersed areas of fallow regrowth. There are several small areas of degraded vegetation around the south-western bases of these two hills and these are discussed in more depth in the next chapter.
‘Shifting cultivation’ is used in this thesis, as I believe it is on the ORSTOM map, to refer to “…any agricultural system in which fields are cleared by firing and are cropped discontinuously (implying periods of fallowing which always average longer than periods of cropping)” (Conklin 1957: 1). 22
22
Chapter Two
The Setting
Some the area on the north of the island which is displayed as light green in Figure 2.8 has been subsequently leased to the Japanese company NCK which has cleared most of the land, but has not yet put it to use (apparently due to a land dispute). Both formerly European-owned and smallholder coconut plantations are largely confined to the coastal fringe, mostly on the east and north coasts in the case of the former. The distribution of smallholder coconut plantations is strongly associated with the island’s settlement pattern, particularly on the west coast. The smallholder coconut plantations are actually more like agro-forestry zones, where a large range of useful trees (most notably fruit and nut trees, particularly, breadfruit, Barringtonia spp. and Annona muricata) are intercropped with coconuts.
23
The trees in the agro-
forestry zones are usually also undergrazed with cattle, giving the grass a ‘mown lawn’ appearance. Indeed, the environs of most villages on Malo are very attractive, and villagers take pride in constantly removing leaves and other debris, thereby maintaining the aesthetic beauty of their domestic places. The ORSTOM map acknowledges an important and on-going trend in land use on Malo, particularly in West Malo, whereby gardens are being gradually replaced by semi-permanent stands of coconuts and to a lesser extent cocoa (and sometimes coconuts underplanted with cocoa). The smallholder cultivation of coconuts has moved beyond the coastal fringe and is now encroaching further and further into the plateau, an area which was previously the exclusive domain of shifting cultivation. The oldest smallholder coconut plantations (which were planted approximately 70 to 80 years ago) are located on the coast, in the village agro-forestry zones, becoming increasingly younger up the steps of the escarpment, onto the plateau. The consequences of this change in land use are discussed in Chapter Six.
E CO N O M Y
AN D IN FRASTRU CTURE
Malo is typical of most Pacific islands in having a dual economy in which resources (land, labour and capital) are dedicated to a mixture of both subsistence and commercial (or cash) production.
24
Importantly, almost all economic production on
Malo, be it for subsistence or commercial purposes, is agricultural in nature. The ‘average’ household on Malo uses most of its resources for subsistence production,
Note that arboriculture (the cultivation of fruit and nut trees) is an important aspect of land use throughout the island. It will be seen in Chapter Four that fruit and nut trees are found in the fallow vegetation and on the sides of bush tracks and roads, as well as in the village agro-forestry zones. The Malo economy also benefits from external cash flows in the form of remittances and wages paid to government employees. Note that subsistence production includes production for traditional exchange purposes. The assumption is that foodstuffs (such as yams and pigs) which are exchanged in kastom ceremonies, such as weddings, are ultimately eaten on the island. These sorts of ceremonies 23
24
23
Chapter Two
The Setting
and the subsistence sector of the island’s economy is therefore much larger than the commercial sector. However, the commercial sector is by no means insignificant, and average cash incomes on Malo compare favourably with those in other parts of Vanuatu. It will be seen in Chapter Five that copra is the most important source of income for most households on Malo, with cocoa a distant second. A minor, but important source of income is derived from the sale of fresh fruits, vegetables and other products at the fresh food market in Luganville; an activity which is undertaken almost exclusively by women. Other minor cash crops produced on Malo include vanilla, pepper, chilli and canarium nuts. An unknown, but small amount of money flows into the Malo cash economy in the form of remittances and wages paid to government employees, such as teachers. Cash earning activities on Malo are heavily reliant upon the island’s infrastructure and transport in general, and the road/sea link with Luganville in particular. The coastal road which circumnavigates the island is in poor condition on the north and east coasts, but has been recently improved on the west and south-west coasts (where most of the population is located) (Figure 2.5). There is a recently upgraded road which connects the coastal road on the mid-north coast with the inland villages of Amambelao and Tanmial, and descends to rejoin the coast near Ataripoi on the south-east coast (not marked on map). There are also roads of varying quality which link the inland villages of Avunarani and Avunaleleo (in West Malo) with the coastal road (not marked on map). There are about 15 or 20 operational vehicles on Malo, most of which are four-wheel drive utilities.
About half of these vehicles are
available for ‘charter’ and they are often used to carry goods and also groups of people (such as sporting teams and church or community groups) along the coastal road. The linkages with the main coastal road are crucial because most of the boats which ferry people and goods across to Naonepan beach on south Santo operate from landings on the west and north-west coasts of the island (see Figure 2.5). A good road and four-wheel drive ‘transport’ utilities link Naonepan with Luganville. There are five or six fiberglass ‘banana’ boats which make the Malo–Naonepan crossing on a twice daily basis. Provided that the sea is calm and there is a transport utility waiting to meet the boat at Naonepan, it is possible to get from Malo to Luganville in less than one and a half hours. are not wasteful or competitive in nature, though evidence suggests that they were much more so in the past. 24
Chapter Two
The Setting
All of the produce from Malo which is sold at the fresh food market in Luganville is transported via Naonepan, and it is the standard way for people to travel to and from Malo. Though some copra and cocoa is also transported to town via Naonepan, most of it is taken directly to Luganville on larger charter boats. It will be seen in Chapter Five that cooperatives, traders, plantations and official VCMB purchasing agents all play an important role in the marketing of copra and cocoa produced on Malo. The traders and cooperatives are particularly important because they purchase ‘green’ copra and ‘wet bean’ cocoa from smallholder producers who do not have access to the copra dryers and cocoa fermentaries which are used to produce premium grade copra and cocoa. The dryers and fermentaries are very important capital resources on Malo; some are owned by extended family groups and some are owned by cooperatives, but most are owned by traders. Income is redistributed within Malo through expenditure on (in no particular order of importance): transport, school fees, bride payments, land, imported food, kava, alcohol, tobacco, clothes, kerosene and a host of other items. Businesses on Malo must be licensed with the SANMA Provincial Government. In 1997, there were a total of 74 licensed stores on Malo (and at least five unlicensed ones), though it is unknown if all of these were in operation. There were also 21 licensed kava bars, 12 25
licensed breadmakers, six licensed doughnut makers and at least four licensed alcohol vendors.
S O CIETY It will be seen in the next chapter that much social change has occurred on Malo over the past 150 years or so, largely as a direct consequence of contact with Europeans and other outsiders. Massive depopulation on the eastern side of the island, coupled with the influx of migrants from Malekula and Ambrym into the area, has seen the almost complete loss of the East Malo dialect of the Malo language, Tamambo (Jauncey 1997: 1, 6–9). Numerous other aspects of East Malo society and culture are disappearing as rapidly as its language. On West Malo, some aspects of ‘traditional’ society and culture, such as language and the system of customary land tenure, remain relatively strong; whilst others, such as the traditional pig killing system (the Sumbuea) have disappeared or are in
This information was given to me by the ‘Area Secretaries’ (who are Provincial Government employees) of East and West Malo respectively. 25
25
Chapter Two
the process of doing so.
The Setting
26
The decline of the Sumbuea left a void in the structure of
Malo society which has been mostly filled, it seems, by Christianity.
Almost
everybody on Malo today is a Christian of some denomination, at least nominally, and the churches act as the hubs of village social life. There are currently five denominations on the island: Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Christ, Assemblies of God and Seventh Day Adventist. Historically, the Presbyterian church has played the most important role in the conversion of so-called heathens to Christianity on Malo, and all three of the survey villages referred to in this study are Presbyterian. There are a number of primary schools on Malo. One of these teaches in French and the others teach in English. According to Jauncey (1997: 7) approximately 10–15 per cent of Malo children pass the Year Six government examination which allows them to go on to high school; and this involves boarding at a school on another island in the archipelago. There are three government-run health clinics on Malo. Avunatari, Ataripoi and near Tanmial.
These are located at
Villagers must pay a nominal fee for
treatment at these clinics.
L AN D
TEN URE
Given that almost all production on Malo is agricultural in nature, land is the island’s most important resource. Land is also the source of both individual and group identity for people on Malo. According to the Vanuatu Constitution, all land in the Republic belongs to the indigenous customary owners and the rules of custom form the basis of the ownership and use of land (Vanuatu Constitution 1980: Chapter 12, Articles 71–72). However, in many parts of the archipelago, land disputes are rife, particularly in areas which have high population densities and have been heavily planted with coconuts (Bonnemaison 1984: 4), such as the western tip of Malo. The customary or traditional land tenure system of West Malo has been well documented (Rubinstein 1978; Vutilolo 1984), and given the on-going decline of language and culture on East Malo, it seems destined to become the dominant system throughout the island.
The most basic principle of this system is that:
“[e]verybody on Malo island has rights to land, but these rights are held with different degrees of intensity, and may come into conflict” (Vutilolo: 1984: 8).
Note that in recent years there has been a revival of the supposedly ‘traditional’ activity of kava drinking on Malo, as there has been throughout Vanuatu. This has seen the opening of numerous kava bars in villages all over the island, and every night men (and a few women) flock to these establishments, which have in a sense replaced the traditional men’s houses of old Malo. 26
26
Chapter Two
The Setting
The system is patrilineal and patriarchal in that men hold the primary rights to land, usually inherited from their fathers; whilst women only have rights to land by virtue of their relationships to men (either as unmarried daughters or as wives who have been properly ‘paid for’ with cash and/or pigs). The system recognises the rights of illegitimate and adopted children (provided that the correct arrangements are made), and also permits transfers in the ownership of land (in exchange for cash and/or pigs). Rights to land are an essential element of individual and group identity on Malo. The traditional land tenure system connects men, and their wives and children, to individual parcels of land within a broader group territory. To quote at length from Vutilolo:
27
Chapter Two
The Setting
Batui-Vanua (literally, ‘head-of-the-house’) is a name given both to a territory, and the group of people living there, who consist of: men born as sons of men of the group; wives properly paid for with pigs or money; unmarried daughters of men of the group; and outsiders (marasai) admitted under circumstances such as an escape from tribal law, or by invitation from a best friend who is a man in the group. Within the area of each Batui-Vanua there are smaller named and bounded areas over which different members have inherited rights. Vui-Vanua (literally, ‘trunk-of-the-house’) are the male members of the Batui-Vanua who act as proprietors or managers of these small areas. The term is also used to describe a man who has acquired his rights by inheritance from his father. The Vui-Vanua has the power to make decisions about the use of land during his lifetime (1984: 8). Rubinstein, in his in-depth study of traditional land tenure on Malo, argues that the Batui-Vanua system may have developed as “some sort of practical mechanism for the addition of in-migrants from other islands or from other areas of Malo, into the land group” (1978: 78). The fact that the system allows the transfer of land (for cash and/or pigs), enabled the migration to East Malo of people from Malekula and Ambrym. The system was also flexible enough to allow the movement of large numbers of people from the interior of the island down to the coast to live near the Presbyterian mission at Avunatari, and later at Nanuku, a movement which commenced nearly 100 years ago. Rubinstein (1978: 97–99) notes that most people who moved to the coast retained part of their Batui-Vanua on the plateau, so that today people who live on the coast have access to land (for gardening and cash cropping) on the plateau. It seems that in practice, the areas of traditional Malo culture which have remained the most persistent and adaptive in the face of change are those concerned with the ‘rules’ of the customary land tenure system. For a man to ensure his rights to land on Malo (and the rights of his children and grandchildren), there are certain ceremonies that he must perform at the appropriate times in his life.
It has already been
mentioned that brides must be correctly ‘paid’ for with pigs and/or cash. This payment is made by the father of the groom, to the father of the bride, at the occasion of a wedding ceremony hosted by the former. The payment ensures that the bride’s children will have rights to their father’s family land. Note that kastom weddings also involve exchanges (between the host and his guests) of certain cultivars of D. alata yams (which are known as bisiroi and bisu in Tamambo), though these yams are being increasingly replaced by other cultivars and species, and even by bags of rice. A second payment (of cash and/or pigs) must be made for each male and female child. Again the payment is made by the father of the childrens’ father to the father 28
Chapter Two
The Setting
of their mother. This payment ensures that the children have usufructuary rights to their mother’s (that is, their mother’s father’s) land and it also gives the male children a possible stake in the ownership of the land in the event that there are no surviving direct male ancestors (which is the one exception to patrilineal land inheritance on Malo). The ceremony associated with this payment is known as ‘looking at the child’, and again involves exchanges of bisiroi and bisu yams between the host and his guests.
FOOD
SUPPLY AN D D ISTR IBUTIO N
It will be seen in Chapter Six that about 80 per cent of Malo people’s daily calorie requirements are derived from the consumption of staple subsistence crops; whilst the remaining 20 per cent come from imported food, mostly rice.
Subsistence
agriculture on Malo has three main components: the shifting cultivation of food gardens, arboriculture and animal husbandry. Minor components, which are more 27
significant on East Malo, are fishing (including the collection of crabs, shellfish and other seafood) and the hunting of flying fox, wild pigs, coconut crabs, wild chickens and a variety of birds. Of the three main components to subsistence agriculture noted above, the shifting cultivation of food gardens is the most important in terms of over-all food production. A wide variety of food crops are cultivated in gardens, of which the staple crops are (in order of importance): yam (seven species of Dioscorea in total of which D. alata and D. nummularia are the most important), Fiji taro (Xanthosoma sagittifolium), banana (Musa cvs.), cassava (Manihot esculenta) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Island cabbage (Abelmoschus manihot) is the main green vegetable and coconut grease is consumed daily with Lap-lap.
28
A complete inventory of food crops cultivated on Malo is given in Tables 2.1 (garden crops) and 2.2 (tree crops). Where known, the Bislama and Tamambo names of each crop are provided, as are the number of cultivars. Each crop is also assigned one of
Most families on Malo rear pigs, chickens and ducks, usually in the vicinity of their homes, though pigs are sometimes tethered or fenced near to their owners’ gardens on the plateau. Most families also rear cattle, which are grazed under coconuts and fruit and nut trees, generally around the village areas of the coastal fringe, but also on the ‘steps’ of the escarpment. Some families also rear goats. Lap-lap is a Bislama word for what is probably best described as a starch pudding. It is generally made from grated root crops (yam, taro and cassava) — though cooking banana and breadfruit are also used — which are wrapped in leaves and cooked on hot stones. After cooking, coconut grease and sometimes tinned meat or fish are added to the lap-lap before it is eaten. There are many different types of lap-lap: I recorded vernacular names for 14 different varieties which are made on Malo (following four broad methods of preparation), some of which are specific to particular crops or even cultivars. Most people on Malo eat lap-lap at least once a day, usually for the evening meal, though it is sometimes eaten for lunch in the gardens and leftovers are occasionally ‘fried up’ for breakfast. 27
28
29
Chapter Two
The Setting
four status codes ranging from ‘major cultivated food species’ to ‘very minor cultivated species’.
30
Chapter Two
The Setting
Table 2.1 Food crops cultivated in gardens Scientific Name Common Bislama English Name Name
1
Tamambo Name
Number of cultivars (where known) 13
Status
3
2
Abelmoschus manihot Allium cepa var. aggregatum Amorphophallus campanulatus Ananas comosus Brassica chinensis Brassica sp. Capsicum annuum Capsicum frutescens Carica papaya Colocasia esculenta Cucumis sativus Curcuma longa Curubita moschata Daucus carota Dioscorea alata Dioscorea bulbifera Dioscorea esculenta Dioscorea nummularia Dioscorea pentaphylla Dioscorea rotundata Dioscorea trifida Ipomoea batatas Lactuca sativa Lagenaria siceraria Lycopersicon esculentum Manihot esculenta Metroxylon sp. Musa cvs.
Nasturtium officinale
Aelan kabis Shallots Elephant yam Pineapple Chinese cabbage White bone cabbage Capsicum Chilli
Havera
Salad
3 4 4
Paenapol Jaena kabis
4 4
Waetbon
4
Kapsikam Pima
4 4
Paw paw Taro Cucumber Tumeric Pumpkin Carrot Greater yam Bitter yam Lesser yam
Popo Aelan taro Kukamba Kari Pamken Karot Soft yam
Sowa Bueta duhu
10+ 6
Yam
Vovile
Dam vurohi Buevu Suru
89 4 12
Strong yam
Dam buria
33
Yam
Himbo
4
1 E. Malo 3 W. Malo 4
Yam
Wailu, Martinik, Sixismanis Yam Afrika Sweet potato Kumala Lettuce Salad Bottle gourd Kalfas Tomato Tomat
Wailu, Martinik, Sixismanis Afrika Wasurusuru
5
3
1 8
4 2 4 4 4
Cassava Sago Banana
Maniok Natanggura Banana
Manioko Vutalawua Vetai
7
Watercres
Wotakris
2 4 1 E. Malo 2 W. Malo 4
30+
3 4 4 4 3 4 1 3 3
31
Chapter Two
The Setting
Phaseolus vulgaris Piper methysticum Piper nigrum Psophocarpus tetragonolobus Saccharum edule Saccharum officinarum Sechium edule Trichosanthes cucumerina Vigna unguiculata Xanthosoma sagittifolium Zea mays Zingiber officinale Notes:
Common bean Kava Pepper Winged bean Fijian asparagus? Sugarcane
Bin
4
Kava Pepa Wingbin
Hae
3
3 4 4
Naviso
Viso
5
3
Sugaken
Tovu
13
3
Choko Snake gourd
Susu Snekbin
Joko
Yard long bean New World Taro Corn Ginger
Yadbin Fiji taro
4 4 4
Bueta tamaute
5
Kon Ginga
1 4 4
So called ‘wild yams’ (wael yam in Bislama; dam imasu in Tamambo) are also sometimes cultivated in gardens, though they are usually planted along the sides of bush tracks and in cocoa plantations. There are 15 locally named cultivars of ‘wild yam’ on Malo: 11 D. nummularia; 2 D. esculenta; 1 D. bulbifera; and 1 D. pentaphylla. 1
The number of cultivars refers to “[t]he number of linguistically labeled, locally recognised folk taxa”(Kirch 1994: 74, Table 2). 2
Categories of crop status are as follows: 1. Major cultivated food species (dominant staples) 2. Significant cultivated species (sub-dominant staples) 3. Minor cultivated species 4. Very minor cultivated species 3
Dr D. Jauncey assisted with the spelling of Tamambo names and collected names of cultivars (October/November 1998).
32
Chapter Two
The Setting
Table 2.2 Fruit, nut and some other useful trees Scientific Name Common Bislama Tamambo English Name Name Name
Number of Status cultivars (where known) 4
2
1
Annona muriata
Soursop
Annona reticulata
Bullock’s heart Breadfruit
Soasop, Korosol
4
Artocarpus atilis Barringtonia procera, B. novae-hiberniae and B. edulis Burkella obovata Canarium indicum Canarium and C. harveyi nut Carica papaya Paw paw Citrus limon Lemon Citrus grandis Pomelo
Bredfrut Navele
Citrus reticulata Citrus sinensis Cordyline fruticosa Cycas rumphii Cocos nucifera Dracontomelon vitiense Ficus wassa Hibiscus tiliaceus Inocarpus fagifer Macaranga spp. Mangifera indica Morinda citrifolia
Mandarin Oranis Nagaria Namwele Kokonas Nakatambol
Mandarin Orange Coconut
Vubaeho tamaute
Naduledule Nungai Popo Laman Pamplimus
Vubaeho 108 + Vuvale (for B. procera) and Vuhorota (for B. edulis) Vusowa Vungaingai
3 4
Vusowa
3 4 4
10 +
Vumoli merika Vumoli Vunjihi Vumuele Vuniu Vuhatombola
4 4
4 4 3 4
Nambalanggo Vumbalaho 4 Cottonwood Burao Polynesian Namambe Vumambue 3 chestnut Navenue Vuvenue Mango Mango 4 Indian Yalatri Vumbuehura 4 mulberry Persea americana Avocado 4 Pometia pinnata Nandao Vunjaria 4 Psidium guajava Gauva 4 Spondias cytherea Golden Naus Vuresi 4 4 Apple Sterculia tannaensis Openfrut Vuhuruhuru 4 Syzygium Malay apple Nakavika Vuhaviha 4 malaccense Theobroma cocao Cocoa Kakao Vukakao 4 Terminalia catappa Sea almond Natapoa Vutavoa 4 and T. samoensis Notes: The number of cultivars refers to “[t]he number of linguistically labeled, locally recognised folk taxa”(Kirch 1994: 74, Table 2). 1
Categories of crop status are as follows: 1. Major cultivated food species (dominant staples) 2. Significant cultivated species (sub-dominant staples) 2
33
Chapter Two
The Setting
3. 4.
Minor cultivated species Very minor cultivated species
Dr D. Jauncey assisted with the spelling of Tamambo names and collected names of cultivars (October/November 1998).
The shifting cultivation of food gardens on Malo is elaborated upon at some length in Chapter Four. However, it should be mentioned here that there are thought to be enough differences in the shifting cultivation systems of East and West Malo to justify the delineation of two agricultural systems on the island. The key differences between the two systems are concerned with staple crops, garden type and size, fallow lengths, and cropping periods.
The boundary between the agricultural
systems of East and West Malo is accurately displayed on the ORSTOM vegetation map (Figure 2.8). The boundary runs from Sasuli plantation on the north-west coast to between Avunavae and Avunambulu on the south-west coast. Importantly, this boundary coincides with the population density boundary highlighted above in the section on Population (see Figure 2.7). Imported food including rice, flour, tinned meat and fish, sugar, and alcohol (beer and wine) is brought into Malo by private residents and local store operators, but mostly by the latter. It is purchased from Chinese owned wholesale/retail stores in Luganville and, in about 99 per cent of cases, it is transported to Malo via the Naonepan road/sea link. The cooperative society at Avunatari (which is known as ‘Anababanava’) operates the largest store on the island. (According to the store’s records, during the 12 months between August 1996 and August 1997 it sold 13,685 kilograms of rice, which, according to estimates made in Chapter Five, accounts for about 10 per cent of the total amount of rice imported to Malo over the course of a year). This store acts as a wholesaler for some of the smaller private stores on the island, and also sells petrol and diesel to vehicle and boat owners. Flour is distributed through the numerous bakers and doughnut makers which have sprung up on the island in recent years. These people generally purchase their flour from a large store on Malo, such as the Avunatari cooperative, and they sell their bread and doughnuts either from their homes or through a nearby store or kava bar. Although small amounts of kava are grown on Malo, none is exported, and Malo is a net-importer of kava. Most of the kava which is consumed in the island’s kava bars comes from the fresh produce market in Luganville.
34
Chapter Two
The Setting
C O N CLUSIO N Various dichotomies have emerged from this overview of Malo and its people. Most significant of these are the differences between East and West Malo in terms of environment, agricultural systems, population density, culture and ethnicity.
A
further distinction between the two sides of the island (which is discussed in Chapter Five) is concerned with the distribution of land and income, which is thought to favour residents of East Malo over residents of West Malo. Throughout Malo there are important distinctions between ‘up’ (the plateau) and ‘down’ (the coastal fringe), in terms of soil fertility and land use. It has been seen that the plateau is mostly used for the shifting cultivation of food gardens, whilst the coastal fringe is used for the cultivation of coconuts and cocoa (which are generally intercropped with a large range of food, and other useful, tree species). Another important dichotomy exists between the modern and the traditonal. It has been seen that some aspects of traditional society and culture, such as the customary land tenure system, remain strong; whilst others, such as the Sumbuea system, have died out, or are in the process of doing so. On Malo today, elements of kastom exist along side the ‘new’ aspects of Malo society (including Christianity, cash-cropping and sporting activities). The chapter has highlighted the transport routes which link Malo with the outside world.
These linkages are crucial to the Malo economy.
Also of note is the
emergence of entrepeneurs on Malo and their importance to the island’s economy as cocoa and copra traders, boat and truck operators, and store keepers and kava bar owners.
35
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
C HAPTER T HREE : T HE H ISTORY O F M ALO We found the people sunk in-ignorance, superstition and brutality; without God and without hope in the world. Their clothing was sparse in the extreme, and that principally in favour with the males — the women wearing nothing. Their whole appearance at first sight was so repulsive that had any other motive power but the love of Christ constrained us to come amongst them we should at that moment have turned from them in hopeless despair and left. (The Reverend J. D. Landels, first missionary on Malo, April 1896). The purpose of this chapter is two fold: to place the contemporary data (concerning agriculture and economy), which is examined in the next two chapters, in an appropriate historical context; and to provide background for the discussion of the possible causes of change over time which appears in the penultimate chapter. With regard to the former objective, the appropriate historical context is one of agricultural and economic change. Agriculture, land use and trade are therefore central themes to the chapter. The latter objective demands a broader approach — background must be provided for a discussion of the possible causes of agrarian and economic change — and this requires information concerning the historical development and change of society and culture on Malo.
The history of population change is
extremely important on Malo, as it is throughout much of Vanuatu, and is consequently investigated in some depth. The topics of population, society and culture, agriculture, and economy are discussed in turn. Each of these discussions considers firstly the period immediately prior to contact with Europeans (the pre-contact period), and secondly the period since contact (the post-contact period). This delineation of two historical periods is not intended to imply that the two periods are so different that they must be analysed separately — to the contrary, there is much that is continuous between them. Moreover, it is not to imply that the pre-contact period was somehow static, a tendency which has sometimes plagued anthropological and geographical analyses of human–environment relations.
29
The delineation is intended simply as a useful,
conceptual tool which acknowledges that on Malo the processes of contact and colonisation set in train a series of profound changes. These culminated in the development of agricultural, social and economic systems which represent Spriggs (1997) draws on evidence from Vanuatu to discredit the romanticised image of pre-contact indigenous peoples living in perfect balance and harmony with their natural environments. He argues that the agricultural systems which existed in some parts of Vanuatu immediately prior to contact with Europeans had developed over several hundred years as a conservation-oriented response to the environmentally deleterious agricultural practices which were deployed by the Lapita people at the time of their initial occupation of Vanuatu approximately 3000 years ago (Spriggs 1997). 29
36
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
significant departures from the systems which, to the best of our knowledge, existed prior to contact with Europeans. The structure outlined above raises two more important points. Firstly, detailed study of the pre-history of Malo is beyond the scope of this research and consequently, the discussions of the pre-contact period are necessarily restricted to the period immediately prior to contact with Europeans. However, the pre-history of Vanuatu has much to contribute to our current understanding of human– environment relations on Malo. Indeed, continuities can be found in the ‘long haul’ of Vanuatu’s history which support the central argument of this thesis (that is, that people on Malo have always been highly adaptive and innovative in response to both pressures and opportunities). Secondly, ‘contact’ with Europeans did not occur in a single moment. It is in itself an historical process which, for people on Malo, commenced with intermittent encounters with traders and labour recruiters (or ‘blackbirders’), and quickly evolved into more constant or sustained contact with missionaries, planters, and colonial administrators.
30
In light of these two considerations, prior to commencing the main body of the chapter, it is necessary to outline the current state of knowledge concerning the prehistory of Vanuatu in general, and of Malo in particular; and briefly to describe the process or sequence of contact with Europeans as it occurred on Malo.
P RE - H ISTO RY Much of this section draws upon the work of Matthew Spriggs, particularly his book The Island Melanesians (Spriggs 1997), which provides a comprehensive account of the pre-history of Vanuatu. The earliest sites of human occupation in Vanuatu were discovered on Malo in 1972–73 by an American archaeologist named John Hedrick (Hedrick n.d., 1971; Hedrick and Hedrick 1975). One of these sites was dated to
The period of contact with Europeans and other outsiders continues, of course, to this day. The missionaries, planters and colonial administrators have been replaced by the representatives of foreign governments, international organisations, NGOs, mining and logging companies, universities and a host of other organisations; and although their presence is less permanent, these foreigners continue to effect development and change on Malo and throughout much of Melanesia. Therefore, strictly speaking there cannot be a ‘post’ phase in the history of European contact with Malo, because that contact has not finished. However, the word ‘contact’ can be used, as it is in this thesis, to describe the specific historical process or sequence which is concerned with the early stages of engagement between Europeans and people on Malo. In terms of comprehending the changes with which this thesis is concerned, this early contact period is of crucial importance because it established the trajectory which most subsequent European-induced changes have followed. I would describe this trajectory, at its simplest, as capitalism, though we also hear it described as modernisation, development, and even sustainable development. 30
37
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
2900–2750 BP.
31
These, and other early sites found in Vanuatu, have contained the
distinctive dentate stamped pottery of the Lapita culture. There has been some disagreement amongst archaeologists as to the ultimate origins of the Lapita culture. However, the evidence seems to favour the view that Lapita was an intrusive culture of South-East Asian origin, as opposed to a culture derived from pre-existing cultures in the Bismarck Archipelago (Spriggs 1997). According to Spriggs: While allowing for some local input, both cultural and genetic, I see Lapita as basically an extension of the island South-East Asian Neolithic expansion, representing the intrusion into the region of new settlers from the west. The ultimate origins of this culture might be in what is now southern China some 7,000 years ago, but is more certainly traceable in Taiwan just before 5,000 years ago. From there its expansion can be tracked through the Philippines and eastern Indonesia, and across to the Bismarcks (1996: 75). It seems likely that Lapita was the founding culture in Vanuatu. It has been argued by some that Mangassi pottery discovered at a site on Efate provides evidence of preLapita settlement in Vanuatu (Garanger 1972, Gorecki 1996).
However, a
reinterpretation of the evidence from the site has demonstrated this hypothesis to be problematic (Spriggs 1997: 140). Furthermore, for reasons of a bio-physical nature, it is unlikely that colonisation of any of the islands south and east of the main Solomons chain (sometimes referred to as ‘Remote Oceania’) would have been possible without the deployment of an imported agricultural complex; and agriculture of this nature was unknown anywhere in Island Melanesia prior to the arrival of the Lapita approximately 3,000 years ago (Spriggs 1997: 40–42). According 32
to Spriggs: Beyond the Remote Oceania barrier, there are no naturally occurring land mammals except bats…The number of bird species also decreases dramatically by some 30 genera…162 genera of seed plants disappear once one leaves Makira. Most critically, a range of wild relatives of major food crops are among them. Thus there are no truly wild Colocasia or Cyrtosperma taros, and various wild yams and bananas may have been absent…It appears that in the absence of a range of cultivated plants and animals, human settlement of Vanuatu may have been impossible (1997: 41). Two of John Hedrick’s sites in the Avunatari area were re-excavated in 1997 by a team of archeaologists led by Jean Christophe Galipaud of ORSTOM (see Galipuaud 1998). The team was unable to obtain a date for these sites due to a lack of suitable dating material. However, the team uncovered a new site on East Malo (at Atanoasao, near Ambaghura) which was very well preserved under a metre of sand. A “secure” date of about 2850 BP was obtained for this site (Galipaud 1998: 6, 9). The evidence suggests that the Lapita introduced pigs, dogs and chickens, and probably also yams and Colocasia taro to Vanuatu (Spriggs 1997). 31
32
38
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
However, it appears that the agriculture deployed by the Lapita people at the time of their colonisation of Vanautu was not ecologically sustainable. Evidence from Lapita sites in Vanuatu suggests that fire was used to clear large amounts of forest, leading to the erosion of hillsides (Spriggs 1997: 143, 150). In some cases the erosion was so severe that sites had to be abandoned for several hundred years. It appears that the Lapita were also responsible for the very rapid extinction of numerous species of birds and reptiles (Spriggs 1997:150). The evidence from the island of Aneityum in southern Vanuatu is particularly striking. It seems that the human-induced erosion of hillsides which occurred during the Lapita period caused the in-filling of valleys and the creation of alluvial flats which were later used (from around 950 BP) for intensive agriculture, initially dryland and later irrigated (Spriggs 1985, 1997: 182–183). Thus, in a classic example of human–environment interactions, people adapted their agriculture in order to exploit a resource created as a result of an earlier phase of human-induced environmental degradation. Moreover, the new agricultural system was not only adapted to the new environment, it was also much more ecologically sustainable than the earlier system. There are some very small areas of degraded land on Malo which have probably come about as a result of repeated burning by humans. These areas (which are known as marahamba in Tamambo) are dominated by Imperata cylindrica, gauva (Psidium quajava) and various other grasses, sedges and broad leaved weeds. The marahamba regions of Malo can be clearly identified on aerial photos as small white patches (of which there are about half dozen in total), mainly located in West Malo, around the south-western bases of Malo Peak and Mbwelinmbwevu.
33
The antiquity of these regions is unknown for certain. However, the absence of erosion, particularly from marahamba areas located on exposed hillsides, indicates that they are probably hundreds rather than thousands of years old. Thus, despite 34
the temptation to attribute these areas of anthropogenic vegetation to the unsustainable agricultural practices of the first Lapita settlers on Malo, a more likely hypothesis is that they have come about as a result of a more recent phase of
It is important to note the insignificance of these areas in the broader context of Malo’s agricultural environment. Spriggs (1985) points out that on Aneityum the replacement of forest by anthropogenic vegetation (similar to the marahamba vegetation found on Malo) would have dramatically increased erosion rates, particularly on the island’s north-west hillsides. Following this reasoning, the lack of erosion associated with marahamba regions on Malo can be interpreted as implying that these regions have come about relatively recently in the history of human occupation of the island. This is corroborated by some of the landowners in these areas, who state that the land was last used by their grandfathers or great-grandfathers (meaning at least 60 or 70 years ago). 33
34
39
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
environmentally deleterious agricultural activity.
This issue is revisited in the
section on population and is also discussed in Chapter Six. Hedrick and Hedrick (1975: 14) date the disappearance of Lapita-style pottery from sites on Malo at between 2300 and 1900 years ago, which is more or less consistent with dates given for the disappearance of Lapita pottery from Island Melanesia as a whole (Spriggs 1997). The end of Lapita saw a significant reduction in inter-island exchange systems, and the subsequent cultural diversification of the region: “The ethnographic diversity of Vanuatu and the other archipelagos of Island Melanesia may well turn out to be a product of this immediately post-Lapita era” (Spriggs 1996: 76). With the exception of Garanger’s work in central Vanutau (Garanger 1972), very little is known about the period immediately following the Lapita period. Indeed, in the case of Malo and other islands in the north of the archipelago, this gap in knowledge currently extends up until ethnographic times (Spriggs 1997: 179). However, the ethnographic period has been well researched, and this research provides a baseline for the discussions of pre-contact Malo which appear later in this chapter.
C O N TACT
W ITH
E URO PEAN S
Jauncey (1997), citing Dickie (1981), tells the amusing story of the ‘discovery’ and naming of Malo: On St Bartholomew’s day August 24, in 1606, the explorers Quiros and Torres sighted a large island which they named ‘Isla de Bartholme’ but which is now believed to be part of the present PNG. Later in 1768, the French explorer Bouganville sighted an island (now known as Malo) which he thought was the same as that described by Quiros and Torres. Then just a few years later in 1774, by coincidence again on August 24, Captain James Cook sighted the island seen by Bouganville and also chose the name St Bartholomew’s Island. So for European explorers, it was first sighted by Bouganville, who thought it had already been discovered by Quiros and Torres, but then it was actually named by Cook (Jauncey 1997: 2). In 1875, Commander Goodenough of HMS Pearl noted in his journal that “a man who speaks English on this side of the island called the place at which we anchor ‘Malo’” (cited in Jauncey 1997: 3).
A few years later, in 1878, the Presbyterian
mission ship the Dayspring visited the island, and the “natives” informed the ship’s crew that it was called Malo (Neilson cited in Miller 1990: 32). In both cases it is likely that the Europeans had anchored at the small bay at Amalo on south Malo. 40
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
Thus, it seems that since the late 1870s the island has been known to Europeans as Malo. To its indigenous inhabitants, the island is known as Natamambo, a word which they also use to describe themselves. The sequence of European contact with Malo does not make for particularly pleasant story telling. Firstly, there were the whalers who visited the southern part of the island in the early 1800s, bringing gonorrhoea with them (Rannie 1912). They were followed by traders initially seeking sandalwood and beche-de-mer, but later seeking labour recruits for the nickel mines in New Caledonia and the sugarcane plantations in Fiji and, particularly, Queensland.
35
Significant numbers of people were recruited from Malo, including some women. Between 1865 and 1911, 371 people from Malo were recruited to work in Fiji, including 42 women between 1876 and 1911 (the earlier figure not being broken down by gender) (Siegel 1985: 51, 1987: 55). Moreover, 1375 people from Malo were recruited to Queensland between 1863 and 1904 (1249 of them between 1873 and 1887) (Price with Baker 1976: 114–115). It is unknown how many women (if any) went to Queensland. However, it is known that women from Malo were used by the blackbirders to lure and ‘comfort’ male recruits: The happy plantation life, the £18 clear at the end of ‘three yams’, the easy existence on board ship, where he would have good ki-ki and excellent society, including that of ‘plenty Mary belong a Malo’. Malo, be it noted, is the very Paphos of the Hebrides, and its women are reknown amongst the other islands for their beauty and amiability (Thomas 1886: 328). The first European known to have taken up permanent residence on Malo was a copra maker named Fortuné La Chaise, who was thought to have settled on the island some time during the 1870s (Bonnemaison 1994: 46). He was followed, in 1887, by the Presbyterian missionary John Landels and his wife who established a mission at Avunatari. A few years later a Marist mission was founded on the northeast of the island. Around the turn of the century, Luganville (then known as Segond Canal) had become the centre for French commercial interests in the northern part of Vanuatu, and the off shore islands of Aore and Malo became the focus of extensive land alienation and plantation development (see Bonnemaison 1994). Aside from being
During the blackbirding era, more people were recruited from Vanuatu than from any of the other countries in Melanesia. Between the 1863 and 1904 about 40,000 people from Vanuatu were recruited to work on plantations in Queensland (Price with Baker 1976: 114–115); and between 1865 and 1911 about 14,000 people were recruited from Vanuatu to work in Fiji, and this represented slightly more than half of the total number of Pacific Island labourers who went to Fiji (Siegel 1987: 51–55). 35
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The History of Malo
conveniently located close to Segond Canal, these two islands were regarded as particularly suitable for the cultivation of coconuts, and to a lesser extent cocoa and coffee, because of their extensive and relatively flat coastal terraces (Weightman 1989: 130). In 1917, there were “about twenty” mostly French settlers on Aore and Malo (Bonnemaison 1994: 91). An article published in 1948 reported 14 European-owned plantations on Aore and eight on Malo (seven French and one English, occupying a total area of 2700 hectares) (Geslin 1948: 261). By 1955, there were 16 Europeanowned coconut plantations on Aore and 14 on Malo (Bennett cited in Wilson 1966: 13). There were still between 15 and 20 European plantation managers and owners on Malo when Rubinstein conducted fieldwork in 1975/76 (Rubinstein 1978: 19). However, all of these plantations were returned to their customary land owners in 1980 (in accordance with the Vanuatu constitution which came into force at the time of Independence), and in most cases their former (European) owners were deported from Vanuatu.
It should be noted that the ownership of at least two formerly
European-owned plantations on Malo is under dispute.
36
Geslin’s 1948 figures demonstrate that proportionally more land was developed into plantations on Aore and Malo than on any other islands in the archipelago (Table 3.1). Furthermore, in the case of Malo, most of this land was on the north and east coasts, which explains the present day geographical distribution of coconut plantations on the island (see Figure 2.8, Chapter Two). According to the British anthropologist and District Agent, Tom Harrison (writing in 1935): Early in this century, planters made an intensive land grab for the fertile soil and good anchorages of east Malo. Natives were driven out by doped liquor or at the end of a gun. The position there is still very unsatisfactory (cited in Rubinstein 1978: 23). Table 3.1
Quantity and area of European owned cash crop plantations in the New Hebrides in 1948, by island
The plantation at Asavokasa (on south-east Malo) has been under dispute since 1980. It is currently under the management of a local Malo resident and provincial politician (who incidentally is also a claimant in the land dispute), and according to informants on Malo, the profits from the plantation are kept in a trust fund managed by the Lands Department. The proceeds of the trust will supposedly be paid to the true land owner(s) if and when they are identified. The Lands Department has not responded to my request for verification of this story. However, it seems likely that my informants were referring to the Rural Land Corporation, which was established in December 1980 (after Independence) in order to: “…supervise the running of abandoned plantations, for which temporary managers were appointed, until such time as permanent leases could be arranged and custom ownership determined” (Van Trease 1987: 259). The ownership of the plantation at Malo Pass (on the north coast), which is currently being leased by the Japanese firm NCK, is also under dispute, though it seems that at least some of the claimants are benefiting from the current lease agreement. 36
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Island
Aore Malo Epi Efate Santo Malakula Source:
The History of Malo
Surface Number of Area of Percentage area (km²) European European of total owned owned surface area plantations plantations occupied by (km²) European plantations 58 15 25 43 185 8 27 15 444 13 31 7 887 25 40 5 4010 29 76 2 2024 13 39 2 Geslin (1948: 261); Statistics Office (1991a: 66-67).
A story frequently told on Malo describes how many people on the east side of the island died as a result of drinking “doped” liquor. Following their deaths, their land was ‘stolen’ by their European murderers and developed into plantations. Rubinstein was also told this and other similar stories, leading him to conclude that “[t]he populations of the north and east coasts of the island were almost completely destroyed”(1978: 25). It has been argued that the Presbyterian church in Vanuatu actively opposed the activities of European planters (Bonnemaison 1994: 91, Van Trease 1984: 19), and the early presence of the Presbyterian church on West Malo may have protected the people there from the murderous practices of the European planters on East Malo.
37
A happier phase in the history of contact between Europeans and people on Malo occurred during the Second World War, when several thousand US troops were stationed on Santo. A smaller number of troops were also stationed on Malo, where they manned a lookout on top of Malo Peak. Exposure to the Americans, with their vast and varied amounts of equipment, and their equitable treatment of African– American soldiers, had an immense psychological impact upon people throughout Vanuatu. Rubinstein notes that many men from Malo worked for the Americans, but had to abandon their participation in the traditional Malo social system in order to do so (1978: 28). This claim is supported by informants on Malo. Apparently the Presbyterian church came into frequent conflict with the European planters and traders based on the northern and eastern coasts of Malo. According to Miller (1990: 52–85), this conflict commenced with the establishment of a Presbyterian church outpost at Asavokasa in 1897 and came to a head in the 1930s when Malo’s first indigenous pastor, Pastor Winji, and the missionary Fred Bowie, became involved in a legal dispute with the plantation operator Matthew Wells. The early stages of this conflict is illustrated in a letter written in 1898 by the first missionary on Malo, John Landels: ”I have been around at the other side of the Island [East Malo] preparing for the cottage being built in the stronghold of French interests. An attempt was made to coerce the natives into refunding the payment of the land I had purchased, but they refused to do so” (Landels 1898: 16). 37
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The History of Malo
Although first contact between Europeans and people on Malo occurred sometime early in the 19th century, the former group did not start to effect significant economic and social change on Malo (with the important exception of demographic change) until around the turn of the 20 century, when European missionaries and planters th
had permanently settled on the island. The ‘pre-contact’ period, therefore refers to the period immediately prior to the permanent settlement of Europeans on the island.
P O PULATIO N The first official census of the population of Vanuatu was undertaken in 1967 and there have been two more since then, in 1979 and 1989.
Pre-1967 population
estimates for Malo have been made by McArthur and Yaxley (1968) and Miller (1990), but in most cases, these estimates, which are summarised in Table 3.2, are in disagreement.
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Chapter Three
Table 3.2 Year 1884 1890 1893 1894 1895 1900 1902 1908 1910 1914 1920/21 1925 1930 1936 1941 1950 Notes:
The History of Malo
Pre-1967 Malo population estimates Population estimate: Population estimate: McArthur and Yaxley Miller (1990) (1968) 1000 3000 2000 1500 2000 1500 1000 1250 1000 900-1000 600 450 476 600 476 757 1
1
These figures include estimates of the population of the small island of Tutuba, which was ‘under the responsibility’ of the Presbyterian mission on Malo. 1
The population of Tutuba was estimated at about 80 persons in 1902 (Miller 1990: 84). 2
On the whole, the figures cited by Miller are thought to be more reliable than those cited by McArthur and Yaxley. Miller’s population figures are based on estimates made by Presbyterian missionaries who were stationed on Malo between 1887 and 1930.
The 1930 figure is taken from an actual census of the island which was
conducted by the missionary Fred Bowie. McArthur and Yaxley’s 1884, 1902 and 1914 figures are based on estimates made by travellers, whilst their 1941 figure seems to be taken from Bowie’s census conducted 11 years earlier (1968: 18). Miller does not give many details of population change on Malo after the 1930s. He does say, however, that the population began to increase sharply after 1950 (Miller 1990: 40), which corresponds with the 1950 population estimate made by McArthur and Yaxley (see Table 3.2). Using Miller’s figures for the period from 1890 to 1930, McArthur and Yaxley’s figure for 1950, and the official census figures for 1967, 1979 and 1989, one can build up a solid picture of population change on Malo over the past 100 years (Table 3.3). However, before discussing the causes of demographic change during this period, we must consider the question of Malo’s pre-contact population. 45
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
Table 3.3 Malo population estimates, 1890–1997 Year Population Source 1800? 1890 1893 1894 1895 1900 1908 1920/21 1925 1930 1950 1967 1979 1989 1997 Notes:
10,000? 3000 2000 1500 2000 1500 1250 600 450 476 757 1578 2246 2867 3450 1
1
2
1
Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) Miller (1990) McArthur and Yaxley (1968) McArthur and Yaxley (1968) Statistics Office (1991a) Statistics Office (1991a) Statistics Office (n.d.)
These figures include population estimates for the island of Tutuba.
This figure is based on population projections made by the Vanuatu Statistics Office. 2
Pre-contact population change Miller argues that the blackbirding history of Malo is similar to the blackbirding history of islands in Vanuatu for which there is documented evidence of severe depopulation occurring as a result of the labour trade. To quote Miller at length: Mr Landels put a question mark against the estimated population of 3000 in 1890, suggesting that it was an informed guess. We may assume that Malo had a much higher population than this at the beginning of the recruiting era, about 1865. If we compare the depopulation of Epi or Emae we may calculate that in 1865 Malo had a population of not less than ten thousand…Malo was, like Emae, easily accessible to recruiting vessels, had a reputation for recruiting and seems to have suffered in the same degree [emphasis added] (Miller 1990: 40). This estimate may not be as outrageous as it first seems. As mentioned previously, both men and women were recruited from Malo during the blackbirding era, and this would have caused a significant decline in the island’s birth rate. Moreover, it is 38
Scarr observes that by the early 1880’s “disillusionment” had become evident in areas where recruiting had been intensive, “especially among the older men, who found their communities weakened by the constant emigration of the young” (1967: 15). A man on Santo had reportedly told a naval officer in 1883 that: “Me make him big fellow talk about Fiji and now all man he go away, only old fellow man and all woman he stop him place belong me” (cited in Scarr 1967: 15). Of course a 38
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The History of Malo
known that there was an epidemic of gonorrhoea on the island in the early 1800s and there may have been other, unreported epidemics on the island during this period. Furthermore, the small areas of degraded land on Malo (the marahamba regions) may have been created as a result of population pressure leading to ecologically unsustainable changes in agricultural practices (most likely in the form of decreasing fallow periods). As mentioned previously, these areas are thought to be hundreds rather than thousands of years old, lending weight to the hypothesis that Malo had a relatively large pre-contact population.
Post-contact population change It is extremely likely that Malo’s population was already declining by the time Europeans had permanently settled on the island in the 1870s. Moreover, it has been seen that the island’s population continued to rapidly decrease to a low of about 450 in 1925 (see Table 3.3). The causes of this rapid decline in population included a dysentery epidemic in 1893, and a tuberculosis epidemic in 1903 (Miller 1990: 47, 67); tribal fighting, which had become increasingly lethal with the introduction of European weapons; and the questionable practices of European planters, particularly on East Malo. The recovery of Malo’s population after the Second World War was greatly assisted by the cessation of tribal warfare, and the increase in the quality and availability of medical care on the island. According to Rubinstein: …the establishment of a medical dispensary at Avunatari in the 1960s and the training of a Maloite as its dresser have greatly facilitated the dispersal of western medical practices. Incidences of chronic disease forms, such as TB, polio, yaws and VD have fallen. Also, the survival rate of infants has vastly increased so that it is not too uncommon to have families with seven or ten living children (Rubinstein 1978: 30–31).
S O CIETY
AN D CULTURE
Pre-contact society and culture Joël Bonnemaison (1996: 200) describes Vanuatu as having two main ‘traditional’ social systems, both of which are chiefdoms. In the northern islands, chiefdoms are “significant minority” of recruits never returned to their home islands. Some chose not to return; but many more fell victim to dysentery epidemics on the labour ships and high mortality rates on the plantations (in Queensland, for example, the mortality rate amongst Pacific Island labourers was two to six times higher than the mortality rate amongst “Europeans”) (Scarr 1967: 7–8). Moreover, those that survived to the end of their ‘contract’ faced the final hurdle of returning safely back to their home territories: “A man of one community landed in the territory of another would almost certainly be robbed of his box and might well be killed” (Scarr 1967: 9). 47
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The History of Malo
founded on a hierarchy of grades, whilst in the southern islands, chiefdoms are based on a system of hereditary and elected titles. Within each of these broad regions there are two sub-regions. In the northern part of the archipelago, there are the “bigman” hierarchies of the north-eastern islands, and the “religion-type” hierarchies of the north-western islands (Bonnemaison 1996: 201). Malo is part of the latter region, which encompasses south Santo, Malekula, Ambrym, Paama, west Ambae and south Pentecost. Rubinstein has described Malo’s traditional social system in considerable depth (1978, especially Chapter Five). This system, which is known as the Sumbuea, was rapidly declining when Rubinstein conducted field work in 1975/76, and has now completely disappeared. Rubinstein decribes the system as follows: The Sumbuea is a ranked system of eating classes for men based on the number of pigs a man has killed relative to each of the classes. Entry into each class was defined by the performance of a specific killing act. The men who performed such an act could cook and eat together…A career in the Sumbuea was seen by men as the essence of male creativity and the Sumbuea as an arena for the expression of male abilities…By engaging in a larger and larger number of such transactions and by expressing himself in the social demain a man would gradually separate himself from women, from some men, from all men, and ultimately from the mundane world of the living (215–216). There were a total of 17 eating classes or grades in the Sumbuea, and several of the grade-taking requirements involved the killing of extremely rare intersex or hermaphrodite pigs (Rubinstein 1978: 232).
39
These pigs were produced on Malo
(McIntyre 1997), and also obtained in trade exchanges with people from Ambae (Rubinstein 1978) and with people from the small island of Sakao off the north-east coast of Santo (Huffman 1996: 184). (Malo’s traditional trading relationships are discussed below in the section on Economy). It is important to note that the Sumbuea was a competitive system. According to Rubinstein: “success in the system was based on ‘beating’ what others had done” (1978: 234).
Interestingly, Rubinstein argues that the competitive nature of the
system, in conjunction with other factors, eventually led to an “historically-late
These pigs, which are known throughout Vanautu as naravé, have been recently studied by McIntyre who has demonstrated that they are not true hermaphrodites and should be more correctly referred to as “male pseudo-hermaphrodites” (1997: 147). McIntyre also highlights the difficulty involved in breeding these pigs, which is the reason why they were so highly valued in grade-taking ceremonies. Interestingly it seems that people on Malo were highly skilled pig breeders: “Through successive generations, and because of the value placed on this ‘unique’ pig, it was no doubt recognised by the people, that even though the intersexes themselves were incapable of breeding, certain female pigs (the fale-ravé as they came to be called) occasionally produced intersexual offspring while others did 39
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The History of Malo
pattern involution” which saw the introduction and proliferation (in the early 1800s) of the use and re-use of dead, dried hermaphrodite pigs in pig killing ceremonies (1978: 234). With regard to the settlement pattern during this period, it seems that people lived in small, dispersed hamlets in the interior of the island. These domestic units were organised around men, usually important men in the Sumbuea, and they usuaully consisted of the private house of the Sumbuea man, the houses and kitchens of his wives, a men’s house and a pig killing structure (Rubinstein 1978). An important man in the Sumbuea generally had a primary wife and several secondary ones, and lesser men would be allowed to sleep with his secondary wives in return for providing labour in his gardens.
Post-contact society and culture Traditional society on Malo rapidly disintegrated as a consequence of contact with Europeans.
40
Depopulation, missionisation and cash cropping all contributed to the
decline of the Sumbuea system, and the Second World War effectively marked its end because many of the men who worked for the Americans failed to renew their association with the Sumbuea after the war, choosing instead to join the mission (Rubinstein 1978: 313). Contact also saw the disappearance of the old settlement pattern as missionaries encouraged their converts to Christianity to move down to the coast in order to live near the missions, particularly the main Presbyterian mission station at Avunatari (Miller 1990).
41
not. In addition to the mother of the naravé, occasionally a female sibling of the intersex became a naravé producer herself” (McIntyre 1997: 149). The presence of large numbers of migrants from Malakula and Ambrym, in conjunction with severe depopulation, have been responsible for the near complete disappearance of the East Malo dialect of the indigenous Malo language (Jauncey 1997). The movement of people from inland to coastal regions is a theme common to the histories of many parts of Vanuatu and of Island Melanesia in general (Brookfield with Hart 1971: 122). These movements, which have generally been in a downwards direction, have been caused not only by the influence of missionaries, but also by disease and the perceived existence of sorcery or black magic. In the early days of the Presbyterian mission on Malo the population became polarised between the converted (man skul in Bislama), who moved ‘down’ to the coast to live near the missions; and the unconverted, most of whom remained in the interior of the island and consequently became known as man bush. In this manner, there was an ‘up/down’ dimension to the division between the converted and unconverted. Given that most of the converted lived near the mission station at Avunatari, there was also an East/West dimension to this sectarian division and the Church was openly critical of the so-called “heathens” who worked for wages on the European-owned coconut plantations on East Malo (Miller 1990). Interestingly, Rubinstein (1978), who conducted fieldwork in the late 1970s, found that there were still some traditionalists living in the interior of the island, amongst whom he discovered a handful of men who still participated in the Sumbuea system. Furthermore, Rubinstein found that the conflict between man bush and man skul had become overtly politicised, with the former group supporting Jimmy Steven’s Nagriemel independence movement (which was eventually quashed by authorities during the 1980 Santo Rebellion), and the latter group supporting the Vanu’aku Pati. 40
41
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The History of Malo
Today Malo’s chiefs are elected and although they may hold judicial and some political authority, the churches hold moral authority. Respect and authority have also accrued to individuals (usually men) who have benefited in the stratification of Malo society along economic lines. It will be seen in Chapter Five that these people, sometimes referred to as ‘neo-Bigmen’, play an important role as middlemen in the island’s present day economy. More generally, it seems that the unanimous dual conversion to Christianity and capitalism has dramatically transformed people’s lifestyles. As Rubinstein observes, the missionary Landel’s attempt to create: “a form of Scottish middle-class society on a Melanesian isle…has not been entirely unsuccessful” (1978: 24). People on Malo regularly attend church and participate in numerous church related activities. Soccer and volleyball have also become popular pastimes, particularly amongst the young. And cash cropping of some description is now regarded by people on Malo as an essential part of life. These changes in people’s time priorities have seen the decline or disappearance of a myriad of traditional activities such as singing, dancing, the use of ‘bush medicine’ and a range of agricultural practices. However, it was seen in the previous chapter that certain elements of kastom, or traditional culture, still exist on Malo, and continue to evolve in response to change. The most important of these is the system of customary land tenure and the various exchange ceremonies (such as weddings) which are associated with it.
A G RICULTURE Pre-contact agriculture A useful starting point for a discussion of pre-contact agriculture on Malo is Joël Bonnemaison’s general theory concerning the historical development of agriculture in Vanuatu (Bonnemaison 1986: 229–307).
Bonnemaison argues that throughout
Vanuatu a distinction can be drawn between people of the coast (man blong solwota) (a category which also includes people who live on small islands such as Malo) who cultivate yam, on the one hand, and people of the interior (man blong bus) who cultivate taro (Colocasia esculenta), on the other. This distinction is qualified by the observation that in general both yam and Colocasia taro are cultivated by any given community, but that one of the two crops is regarded as the principal crop (“la plante majeure”), whilst the other is thought of as a secondary crop (“la plante mineure”). The principle crop is always culturally more important, and is usually subject to a greater degree of agricultural intensification 50
Chapter Three
The History of Malo
than the secondary crop, which is generally produced solely for consumption purposes. Bonnemaison argues that although the environment is an important determinant of this cleavage, in most cases it is not an absolute determinant, and one can not rule out the importance of human agency.
42
Ultimately, he claims that it is an eco-cultural
choice (“un choix éco-culturel”) that arises from an historical interchange of environmental and cultural factors.
43
With regard to Malo, yam was, and indeed still is, the primary crop, and Colocasia taro was probably more important in the past than it is today.
44
However,
Bonnemaison’s theory fails to account for the important role which was played by arboriculture on Malo, particularly the cultivation of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis). Indeed, Yen (1996: 36) points out that studies of Pacific agriculture have tended to neglect the importance of arboriculture, focusing instead on traditional ‘field’ crops, animal husbandry and the economic potential of introduced species. Kirch (1994: 4– 10) expands on this observation, arguing that arboriculture is an important form of agricultural intensification in many parts of Oceania, but has been largely overshadowed by the biased emphasis given in the literature to irrigation based forms of intensification. It seems that prior to contact, subsistence agriculture on Malo was dominated by D. alata and D. nummularia yams, and breadfruit, and these crops were cultivated in an intensive manner. Yams, and also banana, were grown in a shifting cultivation system, and it seems likely that there was only a single planting of these crops before gardens were returned to fallow. It also seems likely that D. alata and D. nummularia yams were cultivated in separate gardens, as they are today. With regard to the cultivation of yams, intensive techniques included the use of mounds and stakes, and the cultivation of an extremely high number of yam cultivars, which can be regarded as a form of genetic innovation through the
Jacques Barrau was the first to highlight the deterministic relationship between the availability of water and agriculture: “…the relative excess or lack of water probably was one of the main ecological factors which determined Man’s earliest horticultural adaptations to his environment in the IndoPacific area” (Barrau 1968: 113). This approach is supported by Brookfield who argues that: ”…an ecological approach to the study of agricultural methods must be placed in some context of human behaviour. While agronomic methods may be explained in relation to the crops grown, and to the environment in which they are grown, this approach cannot yield a general explanation without an understanding of human needs and motivation” (1972: 46). It will be seen in the next Chapter that Fiji taro has become the most important staple food crop on West Malo. However, in terms of cultural and social importance and also intensity of cultivation techniques, yam is still the primary crop on Malo. 42
43
44
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The History of Malo
selection of somatic mutants (see Kirch 1994; Lebot 1999).
45
Furthermore, gardens
were fenced to exclude pigs; and villagers followed a set of tabus concerning the use of fences (and gates) and other aspects of gardening in general (see Appendix). Intensive breadfruit cultivation was accompanied by both genetic and technological innovation (following Kirch 1994).
Genetic innovation is evidenced by the
extraordinarily high diversity of breadfruit cultivars on Malo.
46
In 1992 Walter and
Sam recorded 108 locally-named and recognised “morphotypes” of breadfruit in the Avunatari area alone (Walter n.d.). These morphotypes are distinguished according to the characteristics of their fruits (size, shape, colour, seediness and texture of the outer skin) and their leaves (shape and colour). This large diversity of breadfruit cultivars suggests the human selection of morphotypes with desirable characteristics (such as yield or production patterns) produced either by somatic mutation or open pollination (self-sown). Today, people 47
no longer ‘experiment’ with self-sown or ‘volunteer’ seedlings, preferring the predictability of vegetative propagation. It is thought that the intensive selection of breadfruit cultivars ceased at least fifty or sixty years ago.
48
The people of Malo are aware of a breadfruit preservation and storage technique similar to the various fermentation techniques which are used in other parts of the Pacific (see Yen 1974; Cox 1980; Kirch 1994) and Vanuatu (see Barrau 1956; Parkinson 1984). However, the use of this technique on Malo seems to be declining: informants in the Avunatari region said that it had not been used for approximately five years. With regard to food supply in the pre-contact period, breadfruit and ‘strong’ and ‘wild’ yams (D. nummularia) filled the annual shortage in the supply of ‘traditional’ yams (D. alata). D. alata yams were (and still are) available between March and September; with the latter month roughly coinciding with the commencement of the
Lebot (1999) argues that there is evidence to suggest sexual reproduction in the case of D. alata and this would have provided an added source of variation. The Reverend Gunn (1872) noted 75 locally-named varieties cultivated on Futuna, the Reverend Inglis (1890) recorded 32 on Aneityum, Parham (1966) recorded 22 on Tangoa and Nalo (1967) collected 39 on Efate (cited in Weightman 1989: 112). To date there is no national inventory or collection of breadfruit cultivars for Vanuatu. Yen argues that intensive selection of fruit and nut trees in the Santa Cruz group of the Solomon Islands is evidenced by the “[I]ncreased size of edible parts of domesticated over wild forms” (1974: 278). In regard to Vanuatu, Walter and Sam (1993: 46) point out that the abundance of each species of fruit and nut tree varies from island to island. On Malo, they found a relative abundance of Pometia pinnata and white Syzygium malaccensis, and noted the “giant fruit” of Spondias cytherea which is only found on Malo and Malekula. This provides further evidence of (the past) intensive selection of fruit and nut trees on Malo. According to Rubinstein’s informants, “the ability to control the productivity of fruiting trees was considered a high personal attribute”, and it is claimed that these fruit tree ‘magicians’ were able to “effectively delay the ripening of fruit so the fruits’ ripening would fall into temporal alignment” (1978: 193). These stories could perhaps be interpreted as the ability to select cultivars with 45
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The History of Malo
D. nummularia harvest, which continued until late December/early January. Breadfruit then became the staple crop, and with the use of preservation and storage technology, its availability was extended until the commencement of the next year’s D. alata harvest.
Post-contact agriculture The single most significant change in agriculture and land use on Malo which has occurred in the post-contact period has been the extensive cultivation of coconuts, initially by French and English planters in East Malo, and since the Second World War by smallholder producers throughout the island. The history of the commercial exploitation of coconuts on Malo is described below in the section on Economy. The post-contact period has also seen a general decrease in the importance of gardening and other subsistence activities. Gardens are no longer fenced; tabus are no longer followed; yam magic is only practiced by a handful of old men and women; fewer yam cultivars are cultivated (some have been lost); and the shifting cultivation cycle is no longer strictly adhered to. As mentioned previously, there has also been a significant decline in the importance of breadfruit. At the same time, there has been further intensification — the classic form of dryland shifting cultivation intensification which is often cited in the literature — involving a decrease in the fallow length or an increase in the cropping period, or both (Boserup 1965; Ruthenberg 1980). And on Malo both have occurred. Fallow lengths have fallen quite dramatically in some areas, particularly in West Malo; and cropping periods have increased from one year, to an average of two and five years in West and East Malo respectively. According to informants, the increase in the cropping period commenced some time immediately before or after the Second World War. A range of new crop species and cultivars have also been adopted over the past 100 years or so, of which the most important are the New World crops Fiji taro, cassava and sweet potato, and the African yam species D. rotundata. Informants claimed that the New World crops were introduced to Malo in the latter half of the 19th century by returning plantation labourers. D. rotundata, on the other hand is a more recent introduction, having only arrived on Malo sometime in the mid-1980s.
overlapping production patterns and the fact that people are no longer able to do this is a reflection of the decline of intensive selection for particular characteristics. 53
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The History of Malo
E CO N O M Y Pre-contact economy The pre-contact economy of Malo was more or less typical of pre-contact economies throughout Melanesia: almost all production was agricultural in nature, and it was used for subsistence, social and trade purposes (see Brookfield with Hart 1971; Brookfield 1972). Social production involved the production of food for pigs, and also the production of certain cultivars of D. alata yams which were (and still are) used in traditional exchanges such as marriages and ‘looking at the child’ ceremonies. Trade production was necessary in order to obtain hermaphrodite pigs which were required for grade-taking ceremonies. Indeed, it is thought that Malo played a central role in the traditional exchanges of goods (including hermaphrodite pigs, pots, salt, mats, tumeric leaves, shell money, yams, taro and other foodstuffs) which occurred between the islands in the north of the archipelago up until the 1940s (see MacClancy 1980; Bonnemaison 1985; and Huffman 1996).
According to Huffman: “The island of Malo served as a
manufacturing centre for stringed shell-money, jom, and as a ‘middleman’ in a complex trading system for mat dye between north Malekula and south Santo” (1996: 188).
Post-contact economy The development of smallholder copra production Coconuts were cultivated on Malo for subsistence purposes long before the advent of copra production. Indeed, it is believed that coconuts originated somewhere in the vicinity of Vanuatu (Harris 1978), and it seems likely that they had colonised Malo prior to the arrival of Lapita settlers approximately 3000 years ago. The history of the commercial exploitation of coconuts on Malo is entangled in the history of European contact with the island. European copra traders and planters, and to a lesser extent, Presbyterian missionaries, were largely responsible for encouraging the development of smallholder commercial copra production. With regard to cash earning activities, the Presbyterian church was concerned to maintain financial self-sufficiency, whilst also contributing to the “Foreign Mission” of the Presbyterian Church of NSW (Miller 1990: 54, 68, 81). This was achieved initially through the production of arrowroot, and later, arrowroot and copra (Miller 1990: 41, 54, 68, 81). Church led cash crop production would undoubtedly have encouraged the development of indigenous copra production. However, by the 54
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The History of Malo
1920s the indigenous population of Malo had become increasingly polarised between the converted and the unconverted (Miller 1990: 88), and it seems unlikely that the latter group would have been involved in church oriented cash cropping activities. The traders and planters were arguably a more potent force in the encouragement of indigenous copra production on Malo because, in addition to offering cash in exchange for copra, they often operated small trade stores which sold imported foods, alcohol, tobacco, tools and so forth. Michael Allen (1968), in his discussion of the origins of cash cropping on Ambae, emphasises the importance of such trade stores in generating the initial desire or need to earn cash, which in turn motivated indigenous copra production. Elderly informants recalled two trade stores on Malo. One was at Asawan, just south of the mission at Avunatari, and was operated by an Englishman remembered only as ‘Steven’. The other was at Biau plantation, on the north-west coast, and was owned by Matthew Wells. Both of these men purchased unprocessed coconuts, as well as sun-dried and smoked copra, and the proceeds were generally used to purchase goods from their stores. Coconuts and copra were also purchased by the French planters on East Malo, some of whom may also have operated trade stores.
49
People on Malo also sometimes sold copra directly to the two large trading companies in Luganville, Burns Philip and Ballande. Rodman (1987: 29–30), writing with regard to Longana in Ambae, argues that the collapse of the copra market during the depression of the 1930s encouraged expatriate plantation operators to place greater emphasis on copra trading as opposed to production: By encouraging islanders to make their own copra, expatriate entrepreneurs passed some of the risks of production on to local people and reduced their own costs. Traders doubly ensured recapture of the producers’ surplus by purchasing local copra and by running stores where sellers spent their copra incomes (Rodman 1987: 30). It seems that the ‘hey day’ of the trade stores, and of colonial society in general, occurred between 1910 and 1930 (Bonnemaison 1994: 92). Interestingly, informants on Malo claim that the coconuts which now cover much of the coastal fringe and the ‘steps’ of the escarpment were planted during these decades. Thus, one can conclude that the initial expansion in indigenous coconut planting and copra production was strongly influenced by the availability of and the desire to purchase imported goods.
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However, it was not until after the Second World War that indigenous coconut planting and copra production really ‘took off’ on Malo. This was part of “a great surge” of smallholder coconut planting which took place throughout Vanuatu during the 1940s (Weightman 1989: 135). On Malo, this surge continued largely unabated into the 1950s and 60s (see Rubinstein 1978: 29). Indeed, Rubinstein argues that the unprecedented outbreak of land disputes which occurred on Malo in the late 1970s was a direct result of the expansion in smallholder coconut planting: Possession of land is the central public issue in Malo life at the present time. The Maloese admit that in the past this concern with land was never so fervidly expressed. They say that such concern derives solely from the present-day agriculture-for-cash economy. Land is necessary for planting coconuts from which copra is made. Copra, in turn, is sold for cash [original emphasis] (Rubinstein 1978: 32).
Other cash cropping developments Cocoa was introduced to Malo by European planters who, by 1955, had established five cocoa plantations on the island (Bennett cited in Wilson 1966). However, the Maloese did not start to produce cocoa as a cash crop until the 1970s. This was largely due to a lack of knowledge and information concerning how to correctly prepare cocoa for the market, a process which is considerably more complicated than the preparation of marketable copra. This lack of knowledge was remedied by the establishment of agricultural extension services in the 1970s, and since then, cocoa has been rapidly adopted by smallholder producers on Malo. Over the past 10 years or so, women from Malo have been participating in the fresh food market in Luganville, which provides them with a minor but nevertheless important source of income. Other recent cash cropping developments on Malo include the cultivation and sale of vanilla, chilli, pepper and canarium nuts.
C O N CLUSIO N This brief history of Malo has described the dramatic changes which have occurred on the island over the past 150 years or so, largely as a direct result of missionisation and economic and political colonisation. It is thought that Malo has experienced these forces more intensely than many of the other islands in the archipelago because of its proximity to Luganville and the suitability of its environment for plantationstyle agricultural development. Weightman, referring to Vanuatu in general, notes that: “Most planters supplemented their incomes by selling trade goods to their labour and surrounding villages, and by buying copra and coconuts, in effect taking over the role of the local copra-maker” (Weightman 1989: 131). 49
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The impact on population was particularly severe.
The History of Malo
Labour recruiting, the
introduction of diseases and firearms, and the murderous practices of European planters, saw the population fall from a possible pre-contact maximum of 10,000 persons, to a low of 450 persons in 1925. It is thought that depopulation was more severe in East Malo, where European land alienation and plantation development were most concentrated. Everywhere on Malo, depopulation was accompanied by the movement of people from the interior of island to the coastal mission stations and plantations. The effects of cultural disruption have also been experienced more intensely in East Malo, where some aspects of traditional society and culture, such as language, have almost entirely disappeared (a situation which has been compounded by the presence of migrants from Malekula and Ambrym). However, significant cultural disruption has occurred on both sides of the island, as evidenced by the decline of the traditional chiefly hierarchy, the Sumbuea. Other aspects of kastom have survived the forces of change, and have been adapted to accommodate a new set of opportunities and constraints. Perhaps it is only the most flexible and dynamic of traditional institutions which have been able to adapt. The system of customary land tenure is a good example. Historically, it has been flexible enough to accommodate the movement of people from the interior of Malo to the coast, the influx of migrants to East Malo, and more recently, the formal and informal redistribution of land on the island (see Chapter Six). This led Rubinstein (1978: 78) to hypothesise that the land tenure system originally developed as a “practical mechanism” for the allocation of land rights to migrants from other islands and other parts of Malo. Although there has been much agricultural change on Malo (especially the adoption of export cash crops and new food crops), it will be seen in the next chapter that many aspects of traditional agriculture, particularly yam cultivation, remain strong. Once again people on Malo have been able to successfully adapt their land management regimes to the new conditions brought about by the dual conversion to Christianity and capitalism.
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Subsistence Agriculture
C HAPTER F OUR : S UBSISTENCE A GRICULTU RE Chapter Two presented a general overview of the food supply system on Malo. With the important exception of imported foods, all food consumed on the island is produced as a result of some sort of subsistence activity, be it hunting, fishing, the rearing of domestic animals, or agriculture. Of these activities, agriculture is the most significant contributor to total subsistence food production. Everybody on Malo is involved in subsistence agriculture. Children assist their parents with the entire range of gardening activities, from clearing and burning through to planting and harvesting.
Elderly villagers leave the more strenuous
subsistence activities to their younger family members, but many continue to make the long and steep walk up to their gardens to harvest food. Even those who are involved in full-time economic activities, such as store keepers, boat operators and plantation workers, still find the time to plant and maintain subsistence food gardens. There are two components to subsistence agriculture on Malo: the shifting cultivation of food gardens and arboriculture. The most important of these, in terms of overall contribution to subsistence production, is the cultivation of food gardens. Accordingly, much of the data presented in this chapter relates to shifting cultivation. The following is an attempt to paint a rich picture of contemporary subsistence agriculture on Malo. A detailed knowledge of the present is prerequisite to any attempt to piece together and comprehend the changes and transformations in subsistence agriculture which have occurred on Malo over the past 100 years or so. A secondary objective is to derive estimates of subsistence food production. It will be demonstrated that the significant differences in the cultivation systems of East and West Malo necessitate the construction of two different temporal models of horticultural production. These models will be used as a basis for estimating the annual production of the staple crops: yam, Fiji taro and banana.
S H IFTIN G
CU LTIVATIO N
Although shifting cultivation is regarded as the most common form of cropping system encountered throughout the Indo–Oceanic humid tropics (Spencer 1966: 4), it does not enjoy a single, universally agreed definition. Scholars of tropical agriculture frequently interchange the term ‘shifting cultivation’ with ‘bush fallowing’, ‘slash and burn agriculture’ or ‘swidden cultivation’.
Often these terms are used 58
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ambiguously, and without elaboration: “…the critical limits and significant relations of time, space, technique, and local ecology are rarely made explicit” (Conklin 1957: 1). Conklin does, however, conclude that the various systems of shifting cultivation have enough in common to allow for a minimal definition of the term: Shifting cultivation may be defined as any agricultural system in which fields are cleared by firing and are cropped discontinuously (implying periods of fallowing which always average longer than periods of cropping) (Conklin 1957: 1). Following Conklin (1957: 1) and Spencer (1966: 6–10), it seems that the best approach is to regard shifting cultivation as a “rubric” or a “generic label” for the many types and subtypes of shifting cultivation that exist. It is then the responsibility of each individual scholar to precisely define and describe the agricultural system(s) with which they are concerned. This approach assumes the existence of some sort of criteria upon which agricultural systems can be compared, and if necessary, distinguished from one another. The work of Allen et al. (1995a, 1995b) in PNG has pioneered a method for delineating the spatial boundaries of different agricultural systems: This research defines a ‘system’ in spatial, or mappable dimensions. Six clearly defined and observable phenomena are used for the purposes of identification and definition. They are: the type of fallow vegetation on land being cleared for cultivation; the fallow period; the cropping period; the staple crops; soil fertility maintenance practices; and garden and crop organisation. When one of these six features changes significantly, a different ‘system’ is distinguished, a boundary is mapped, and an area defined (Allen et al. 1995b: 302). Of these six phenomena, all are relevant in the case of Malo, with the exception of soil fertility maintenance techniques.
These techniques include any agronomic
practices which assist in the maintenance of soil fertility, except for the use of a long fallow (Allen et al. 1995a: 20). The long fallow is the only soil fertility maintenance technique which is known to be used on Malo. Gardens on Malo are classified into two main types, depending upon which species of yam dominates in the first year planting. Alolona gardens contain mostly Dioscorea alata, whilst seremalavo gardens are reserved for a particular group of cultivars of Dioscorea nummularia known locally as marou.
50
These two species of yams have
Throughout Vanuatu, people distinguish between D. alata, which is known as ‘soft yam’ and D. nummularia, which is called ‘strong yam’. According to the ‘Wilson field guide’: ”Local names meaning ‘hard’ or ‘strong’ yam are often given to cultivars of [D. nummularia]: ‘hard’ because the flesh is drier and a hard texture after cooking, and ‘strong’ because the growing tubers can penetrate hard untilled soils better than other species” (Wilson 1988). Weightman (1989: 80) reports that ‘soft’ and 50
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different ecological requirements and growth cycles, and are consequently cultivated in different places, at different times, and using different techniques. The cultivation of alolona gardens dominates shifting cultivation in both East and West Malo (Table 4.1). Seremalavo gardens are, however, relatively more important in East Malo.
It is estimated that in Ataripoi, seremalavo gardens occupied
approximately 44 per cent of the total area cleared for cultivation in 1996. This 51
compares with two per cent for Avunatari and five per cent for Nanuku. Table 4.1 Village
Percentage of total area cultivated in 1996 allocated to each garden type Avunatari Nanuku Ataripoi
Alolona gardens
94.4
80.8
46.5
Seremalavo gardens
1.8
5.1
43.7
Other yam gardens
1.1
8.6
0
Market gardens
0
5.5
9.8
Other gardens
2.7
0
0
Total
100
100
100
There are several other significant differences between the agricultural systems of East and West Malo, particularly with regard to fallow lengths and cropping periods. However, rather than comparing the two systems solely in terms of the five phenomena outlined above, it is hoped that the differences between the systems will be drawn out of a rich generalised description of shifting cultivation on Malo. This description will follow the analytical framework developed by Conklin (1957).
The shifting cultivation cycle In his study of Hanunóo agriculture in the Philippines, Conklin (1957: 31) found that any Hanunóo shifting cultivation cycle comprises five “general phases” of activity: site selection, cutting, firing, cropping and fallowing. These phases provide a useful framework for examining the shifting cultivation cycle on Malo, though it should be noted that in the cultivation of seremalavo gardens, the cropping phase precedes the firing phase.
‘strong’ yams are cultivated in separate gardens on Paama, and that in north east Santo it was formerly forbidden to cultivate the two species in the same garden. Brookfield with Hart observe that throughout Melanesia D. nummularia “is generally cultivated apart from other yams”, and that “[t]his is strange, for it is lower yielding and less tasty” (1971: 82). It will be seen that the group of D. nummularia cultivars known as marou are actually the highest yielding yams on Malo and that this is thought to be a consequence of the fact that they are cultivated in gardens which are cleared from old regrowth. It will be seen in the next chapter that marou is also an extremely important market cash crop. 60
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Site selection As the rains start to subside in July, the bulk of the work of yam harvesting is complete and the villagers cast their thoughts to the preparation of new gardens. Villagers take account of several factors when deciding where to make their new gardens, the most important being soil type and fertility, relief, exposure, distance from place of residence and land ownership. As mentioned in Chapter Two, the vast majority of shifting cultivation takes place on the plateau, which is covered with humic and weakly desaturated ferrallitic soils of good fertility. The people of Malo distinguish between several different types of soil present on the plateau. Their classification is based mainly on colour and texture. Dark soils which do not contain stones or rocks (tano duhu) are widely regarded as the best soils for gardening, whilst rocky soils (barati) are regarded as the least suitable. Drainage is also an important consideration. Sandy soils (tano rua; vuso vuso) are generally thought to be more suitable than clay soils (tano waha; tano diaha). However, one informant claimed that each year he attempts to plant gardens in both sandy and clay soils, thereby reducing the risks associated with rainfall variation between years. Apart from soil colour, villagers rely on vegetation as an indication of soil fertility. Old secondary regrowth (tano jea) is deemed to indicate the highest soil fertility.
52
Fallow regrowth (malandalu) is divided into two categories. The first, malandalu malulam, refers to young fallow regrowth where the fallow length has been insufficient and the land is not yet ready for cultivation. The second, malandalu jea, refers to older fallow regrowth (generally regarded as 10 years or more), where the fallow length has been sufficient and the land is now suitable for cultivation. To gauge whether or not the fallow period has been sufficient, villagers rely upon the height of the fallow regrowth, in general, and the life-cycle of a certain tree (vumali), in particular. When this tree starts to die, after approximately 10 years, the land is deemed to be ready for cultivation. In deciding which type of vegetation is to be cleared, villagers must consider what type of garden they intend to cultivate. D. nummularia requires shade during the early stages of its growth, and produces an extremely long vine which must be trained onto a tall tree or bush vine. Consequently, villagers argue that it is best to cultivate seremalavo gardens in either primary forest or very old secondary regrowth.
‘Total area cleared for cultivation’ refers to the total area cleared for the cultivation of gardens, and does not include areas planted to export cash crops or fruit and nut trees. 51
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The third type of vegetation recognised by villagers is known as marahamba. This a generic term for ‘bad land’, and includes areas dominated by Imperata cylindrica, guava and various other grasses, sedges and broad leaved weeds. These areas have possibly arisen as a result of intensive shifting cultivation in the past, leading to soil degradation and the dominance of grasses. These areas are regarded as unsuitable for shifting cultivation. The people of Malo are aware of the dangers of erosion, and flat land is universally regarded as the most suitable land for gardening. The plateau is, for the most part, level. The only steep areas are found on the ‘steps’ of the escarpment and around the two hills, Malo Peak and Mbwelinmbwevu.
Although these areas remain largely
uncultivated, a limited amount of gardening does take place on slopes up to 30 degrees in inclination.
53
However, the vast majority of gardens visited were located
on level ground (up to five degrees in inclination). Given the high frequency of cyclones and tropical depressions, protection from wind is an important factor, and people will avoid open, exposed areas such as the sides and tops of hills. Some informants pointed to the protective benefits of having tall woody vegetation surrounding their gardens, but noted that banyan trees must be avoided due to their extensive root systems. Another technique which is used to reduce the risk of cyclone damage is discussed below in the section on ‘cutting’. Proximity to place of residence is another important determinant of garden site selection, particularly in light of the fact that people must carry heavy loads of root crops and other vegetables back from their gardens. Indeed, distance was cited as one of the main reasons why some people seek permission to garden on land belonging to others (usually extended family members).
54
Given the multiplicity of
demands upon people’s time (such as cash cropping and church, sporting, and political commitments), informants pointed to the importance of having gardens close to the village in order that food may be obtained quickly, thereby freeing up time for the pursuit of other activities. Approximate average walking times to the gardens were as follows: 40 minutes in Avunatari; 1 hour 15 minutes in Nanuku; and 25 minutes in Ataripoi. The furthest garden visited was cultivated by a family from Nanuku, and was approximately two hours walk from the village. In general, the distance of gardens from the villages has
Although tano jea is regarded as the most fertile land for gardening, villagers also recognise that clearing very old regrowth is extremely hard work. Indeed, some informants claimed that, given the choice, they would rather make gardens in young secondary regrowth. Where cultivation does occur on steep hill sides, no attempt is made to control or prevent erosion. 52
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increased, and is continuing to increase, due to the encroachment of coconuts onto the plateau. This issue is revisited in Chapter Six. 55
The discussion thus far has demonstrated that villagers are well aware of what constitutes an ideal garden site. The reality of garden site selection is, however, quite different to the theoretical ideal. Villagers are ultimately constrained by the physical characteristics, location, and size of their land; and must sometimes accept less than perfect gardening conditions.
It has already been seen, for example, that some
people cultivate gardens on steep slopes, whilst others must walk long distances to reach their gardens. Similarly, some villagers, particularly in the Avunatari region, cultivate gardens in inferior barati soil. A limited amount of cultivation is even undertaken (by two Nanuku families) in the degraded marahamba regions around the south-western base of Mbwelinmbwevu. Thus, of all the factors that influence garden 56
site selection, land ownership is certainly the most important.
Cutting The manner in which a garden site is cleared and the timing of the clearance depend upon whether the cultivator intends to plant an alolona or a seremalavo garden. Alolona gardens are prepared during the dry season (generally between July and October), in order that a good burn can be achieved. Due to the longer growth period of D. nummularia (approximately 10 months, as opposed to six to eight months for D. alata), seremalavo gardens are cleared a few months later (generally between November and January).
Villagers usually assemble work groups
consisting of friends and family to assist in the work of clearing a new garden site. The clearing of an alolona garden site proceeds in two specific stages. The first stage, known as hooli, consists of the clearing of undergrowth, vines, and small trees and shrubs. On 27 August, I participated in the hooli stage of the preparation of a 92 m² alolona garden belonging to Voliho Joseph. The site was last cultivated seven years ago, and the fallow vegetation consisted of low woody regrowth, six to seven metres in height. The work party consisted of Voliho, her son, a granddaughter, a niece, a Payment for the use of another person’s land is in the form of food, particularly yams, but also banana and Fiji taro. According to Weightman, this phenomenon has occurred in many parts of Vanuatu: “The growth of smallholder cash cropping has had an inevitable effect on the size and location of food gardens. When coconut planting had filled the available coastal land, it advanced inland, and along the front of this advance coconuts were each year planted with the food crops in the new gardens, so that the gardens were pushed further and further away from the villages” (1989: 41–42). This is probably more through choice than necessity because the marahamba areas are closer to Nanuku than the rest of the traditional land which is owned by these families. Furthermore, both families state that they have been achieving good yields from the land in question, probably because it was last used at least 70 or 80 years ago and has therefore been under a very long grass fallow. However, they also recognise that the land is not suitable for repeated cultivation (that is, shifting cultivation) due to its inability to generate quality fallow regrowth. 54
55
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family friend, and myself. We formed a line across the width of the site, and using bush knives, we cleared the vegetation to ground level, throwing the slashed and felled vegetation behind us as we worked. This produced a fairly consistent ground cover of cut vegetation, which was left to dry. Larger branches and small tree trunks were stripped of their foliage, and stacked up around the boundaries of the site. It took the six of us approximately one hour, 15 minutes to complete the work. No attempt was made to remove larger trees, as these are used as yam trellises. Fruit and nut trees were also allowed to remain.
As mentioned in Chapter Two,
unharvested D. esculenta often continues to grow in fallow regrowth for up to 10 years.
In the site belonging to Voliho, two such yams were discovered in the
regrowth, both of which were harvested. The second stage of alolona garden preparation can proceed in two different ways: villagers either burn the bases of all the large trees remaining on the site, using dry wood and leaves as fuel (sulimanwe); or else they climb the trees and cut down their branches (tai tai). If the latter option is followed, the bases of the trees will still be burned, but not until after the firing stage described below. Shortly after burning, the trees will die and drop their foliage, thereby opening up the new garden site to sunlight. Although tai tai is regarded as hard work, it is also thought to provide better security against cyclones. By the time the cyclone season arrives, the yam vines have become thoroughly entangled in the branches of the dead trees (which act as trellises for the yam vines), and in the event of a cyclone, these branches may break thereby damaging the vines. Thus, the removal of branches in the tai tai process is regarded as advantageous. Approximately half of the new gardens surveyed in 1997 had been prepared in the tai tai manner whilst the other half had been prepared according to the sulimanwe method. In preparing a seremalavo garden, only the first (hooli) stage is undertaken. However, rather than distributing the slashed and felled vegetation over the entire area of the garden (as described above), it is piled up at the bases of trees. The trees are burned after the D. nummularia yams have been planted and staked, and their vines have reached the top of the trees. This is because, as mentioned previously, D. nummularia requires shade during the early stages of its growth. On the basis of garden surveys carried out in the three study villages, average 1996 alolona garden areas are estimated at: 397 m² for Avunatari; 387 m² for Nanuku; and 554 m² for Ataripoi. Average 1996 seremalavo garden areas are estimated at: 80 m² for 64
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Avunatari; 87 m² for Nanuku; and 393 m² for Ataripoi. It can be seen that average 57
garden areas are fairly consistent between Avunatari and Nanuku, but that gardens in Ataripoi are significantly larger, particularly seremalavo gardens.
Burning The next general stage of garden preparation, known on Malo as tiu hambi, consists of the burning of dry slashed and felled vegetation. It usually takes three to four weeks for the vegetation to dry, though it can take much longer in the event of heavy rainfall. However, delays in the firing of new gardens are usually the result of conscious decisions on the part of cultivators to allocate their labour to the pursuit of other activities, such as cash crop production.
An informant in his mid-sixties
claimed that when he was a child this was not the case; gardens would be fired as soon as the vegetation was dry enough. His implication was that in the past, before the advent of cash cropping, and church and sporting activities, people had enough time to allocate all of their labour to the important business of new garden preparation. On the morning of 4 September, I witnessed the firing of two new alolona gardens: one belonging to Vira Joseph; and the other belonging to his son, Joseph. Before the firing of his garden, Vira was concerned that the vegetation was not dry enough. He was planning to go to Vila for a few weeks at the beginning of October, and was keen to complete the preparation of his new alolona gardens before he departed. Thus, he was hoping that he could successfully ignite and burn vegetation which had been drying for only nine days. Vira’s new garden site was on an exposed hillside, and he was also concerned that the strong gusty winds would make the fire uncontrollable. His trepidation was compounded by the dryness of the surrounding fallow vegetation which presented a very real bush fire hazard. In light of these concerns, Vira did not follow the ‘normal’ method of firing. Usually the dry vegetation is ignited at several points during a single traverse of the site’s boundary, with the idea being that the flames will meet in the middle of the site and extinguish themselves.
58
Vira instead decided to burn one half of the site at a time.
Note that in Ataripoi, seremalavo gardens are always spatially separate from alolona gardens; whereas in Nanuku and Avunatari, villagers sometimes cultivate a small area of marou yams within their alolona gardens. If the site is on a slope, the burning will commence at the top of the slope because it is thought that flames move more slowly in a down hill, as opposed to an up hill, direction. If the garden is adjacent to a stand of valuable trees, such as coconuts, cocoa, or fruit and nut trees, the burning will commence at the boundary with the valuable trees. Villagers believe that this makes it easier to control the fire away from the valuable trees. Sometimes a fire break is created by simply removing dry vegetation to create an area of bare soil between the valuable trees and the new garden site. Adjacent gardens are shielded from the flames by their moist green vegetation, and consequently no attempt is made to protect them from the firing. 57
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The bottom half burned well, but the top half was relighted twice, and, after about an hour, Vira decided to abandon the burn and to return when the vegetation was properly dry. Joseph’s new garden site had been cleared about three weeks earlier, and the slashed and felled vegetation was completely dry. Joseph did not share his father’s concerns about the fire getting out of control because the site was located on a flat valley floor, where it was protected from the wind.
It was also surrounded by the green
vegetation of productive gardens. Joseph consequently elected to follow the ‘normal’ method of firing. Carrying several dry coconut leaves, he walked slowly around the boundary of the site, using the coconut leaves to ignite the dry vegetation in several places. The main burn was complete in 25 minutes, though some areas of the garden continued to smoulder until the following day. After the firing of new garden sites, they must be left to cool down for a day or two. Moreover, before planting commences any unburnt material, no matter how small, is removed from the site. This is sometimes carried out with the aid of brooms made 59
from Pandanus spp. (Hence the Bislama term brum, which is used throughout Vanuatu to describe this activity).
Cropping The cropping phase is the longest and most involved phase in the cultivation cycle on Malo. It involves the planting, tending and harvesting of a wide variety of crops over a period of several years. There are significant differences between the cropping of alolona and seremalavo gardens.
Firstly, alolona gardens contain a great diversity of crops; whereas
seremalavo gardens tend to be reserved for the cultivation of marou yams, though these yams are often intercropped with Fiji taro.
Secondly, alolona gardens are
usually replanted with Fiji taro and banana after the first year yam harvest, and these crops continue to produce for at least another one to two years; seremalavo gardens, on the other hand, are not generally replanted after the marou harvest. In light of these differences, the cropping of each type of garden will be described separately. Alolona gardens Villagers usually wait for the rain to commence before they start planting their alolona gardens. This is because rain softens the soil, making the work of planting easier. In 1997, there was no significant rain on West Malo between late August and At this point, villagers who followed the tai tai alternative during the ‘cutting’ stage will burn the bases of the remaining trees using unburnt slashed and felled material as fuel. 59
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early November; whilst on East Malo, it was still very dry when I departed the island in early December. Consequently, throughout Malo, villagers reduced the size of their yam plantings (only planting perhaps 75 per cent of the areas of their new gardens), complaining that the ground was too hard. Yams are always the first crop to be planted in alolona gardens. Seven species of the 60
Dioscorea genus are cultivated on Malo, and D. alata is the dominant yam species planted in alolona gardens (Table 4.2). Table 4.2
Proportion (per cent) of each yam species planted in 1997 alolona gardens Avunatari Ataripoi
D. alata
63.6
68.7
D. esculenta
10.3
8.2
D. rotundata
6.1
13.8
D. bulbifera
9.2
0.4
D. nummularia
4.2
3.7
D. pentaphylla
2.4
0
D. trifida
0.3
0.8
Unknown
4.5
4.5
Total
100.6
100.1
Note:
Figures based on a sample of 13 alolona gardens in Avunatari, and 10 in Ataripoi (in 1997). They were derived by counting the number of yam plants and species in these 23 gardens.
Yams are planted in holes which are excavated with the aid of a dibble stick and a bush knife, and which average 15 cm in depth.
Before the digging of holes
commences, the planting material is prepared and distributed around the garden (at each prospective planting site). Planting material generally consists of small seed yams and cut pieces of larger yams. However, in the case of D. nummularia, only the ‘heads’ of yams are used; and in the case of D. bulbifera and some cultivars of D. alata, only aerial bulbils are used. Once the planting material is in place, the holes are refilled and covered with soil to create small mounds, approximately 15 cm in height and 55 cm in diameter. The work of yam planting is not customarily divided along gender lines, though in practice it seems that men do the heavier work of digging the holes, whilst women do the planting.
Detailed information concerning all aspects of yam cultivation on Malo is given in the Appendix. Some of this information will be summarised in the following part of the main text. Note that due to 60
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The distance between yam mounds averages 80 cm. In Avunatari and Nanuku, marou yams are often planted in a special section within an alolona garden, usually under a large tree which can be used as a trellis. Other cultivars of D. nummularia, and D. rotundata, are also generally planted under large trees, and are consequently spatially separate from the other yam species, which are intercropped. In Avunatari, the average density of yam plantings in 1997 alolona gardens was 0.36 mounds per m², whilst in Ataripoi it was 0.34 mounds per m².
61
Once the yam vines are approximately one metre long, they are fastened to stakes using leaves of the vunjihi plant (Cordyline fruticosa).
Staking techniques differ
between species. High-climbing species such as D. rotundata and D. nummularia, and some cultivars of D. alata, are generally fastened to long bamboo poles, which rest against large trees. The other species, and the majority of D. alata cultivars, are fastened to free-standing stakes.
These stakes consist of large stem cuttings of
Hibiscus tiliaceus and Macaranga spp. trees. Yam harvesting commences in March with the early maturing cultivars of D. alata and D. rotundata. Prior to missionisation, the first yam harvest was celebrated with a kastom feast. However, today the ceremony takes the form of a church service in which the yams are dedicated to God. In Avunatari in 1997, this ceremony took place on 15 March at the Presbyterian Church. Yams continue to be harvested from alolona gardens until the last cultivars of D. nummularia mature in September or October. However, the bulk of yams are harvested between April and August. When harvesting yams, great care is taken not to break their skins as this reduces their storage life. Yams are generally stored in specially constructed ‘yam houses’ (vetasari), though they are sometimes simply placed on bamboo poles on the ground and covered with leaves. Some yams will be used as planting material, some will be exported from the island, and some will be used in kastom exchanges.
Most,
however, will be consumed. In West Malo, the yam planting is shortly followed by an interplanting of Fiji taro, banana, and a range of other crops.
62
In East Malo, Fiji taro and banana are not
the cultural importance attached to certain long cultivars of D. alata, they are always planted first, and their planting is accorded much more care and effort than the planting of other yam species. Densities of 1997 alolona yam plantings were recorded for 14 gardens in Avunatari and 10 gardens in Ataripoi. Densities were calculated by counting the number of yam mounds in each garden and then dividing by the area of the garden. Note that 1996 density data was also recorded, but is thought to be unreliable due to the fact that yam harvesting had already commenced by the time I arrived on Malo, making the accurate counting of yam mounds problematic. This usually occurs within a few weeks, however, due to the lack of rain in 1997, very few villagers had planted anything other than yams by the time I left Malo in early December. Fiji taro and banana are both propagated vegetatively. In the case of Fiji taro, planting material consists of the corm apex 61
62
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generally planted until the commencement of yam harvesting.
As each yam is
harvested its planting site is replanted with Fiji taro or banana. Informants in East Malo claimed that these two crops produce too much shade, and are consequently detrimental to the growth of D. alata yams. Villagers in East Malo do, however, interplant Fiji taro and banana with marou yams, claiming that these yams actually benefit from the shade. Despite these differences, at some stage during its productive life, an alolona garden in either East or West Malo will contain the dominant staple crops, yam and Fiji taro; banana; and at least one of the two other subdominant staples, sweet potato and cassava.
63
It will also usually contain Abelmoschus manihot, which is the most
important green vegetable cultivated on Malo, and paw paw, which is popular pig food. A typical alolona garden will also contain several of the minor food crops listed in Table 2.1, Chapter Two.
64
In both East and West Malo, villagers plant Fiji taro and, to a lesser extent, banana in the depressions which remain after the yams have been harvested. In West Malo, this is regarded as the final major activity in the gardening cycle. Although villagers continue to weed and harvest individual Fiji taro and banana plants, by the end of the second year, the gardens are overgrown and the villagers start to refer to them as malandalu (fallow regrowth).
While Fiji taro, banana, cassava and some yams
(particularly D. esculenta) continue to grow in the first few years of the fallow regrowth, in West Malo the vast majority of production is achieved in the first 24 months of a garden’s life. The situation in East Malo is quite different.
Villagers continue to maintain
dispersed areas of banana, and to a lesser extent, Fiji taro, for up to eight years after the crops are planted. Bananas are maintained by simply cutting down the stem bearing the ripe fruit cluster. Another stem in the clump will then produce a new fruit cluster which will generally ripen within 12 months, though it should be noted that a clump can bear more than one fruit cluster at a time. Fiji taro is maintained by either replanting the corm apex and petiole after the cormels have been removed, or by only removing the side cormels, leaving the main corm intact. On average it and petioles, with the leaves trimmed away. Suckers are used in the case of banana. The planting of these crops is accorded much less care and effort than the planting of yams. Following Allen et al. (1995a: 19) a dominant staple is a crop which is estimated to occupy one third or more of the garden area, whilst a subdominant staple is estimated to cover between 10 and 32 per cent of the garden area. Note banana is much more important in East Malo, where it can be classified as a dominant staple. All of the different crops cultivated in alolona gardens are usually intercropped. However, recently introduced crops such as tomato, Chinese cabbage, capsicum, cucumber, and shallots, are occasionally planted in a small, separate section of the garden. These crops are produced both for sale at the Luganville market and for domestic consumption. 63
64
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seems that banana and Fiji taro continue to produce for four years after their initial planting, which extends the total productive life of an alolona garden in East Malo to approximately five years. With regard to the planting densities of Fiji taro and banana in West Malo, it is important to distinguish between first year and second year plantings. However, in practice, although a small amount of banana and Fiji taro may be harvested after eight or nine months, most will be harvested after 12 months and within 24 months. Consequently, it is the density near the end of the first year (that is, after all yams have been harvested and the second planting of banana and Fiji taro is complete) that is important in terms of production. Due to the dry weather in 1997, people on Malo delayed the second planting and I was unable to obtain good density data. Planting densities were, however, recorded for several gardens which were originally planted in 1995 and in 1996. Based on this data, in West Malo the average densities of Fiji taro and banana in second year alolona gardens are estimated at 0.51 plants per m² and 0.08 plants per m² respectively. In East Malo, it seems that the densities of Fiji taro and banana remain quite constant after these crops are planted following the first year yam harvest. Thus, in the second, third, fourth and fifth years the average densities of Fiji taro and banana in alolona gardens in East Malo are estimated at 0.04 plants per m² and 0.05 plants per m² respectively. Seremalavo gardens Seremalavo gardens are planted between November and January. The marou yams are always the first crop to be planted. Planting material consists of small seed yams and yam ‘heads’. As with the ‘soft yams’, marou is planted in holes which are filled with soil to form mounds. These mounds are the same height as, but wider than, the mounds in alolona gardens, averaging 75 cm in diameter. The average planting density of marou in 1996/97 seremalavo gardens was 0.27 plants per m² in West Malo (Avunatari/Nanuku) and 0.22 plants per m² in East Malo (Ataripoi). The marou vines are fastened to long stakes, usually bamboo poles, which are propped against
tall trees.
An alternative staking technique, which is used
exclusively in the case of marou, involves slinging a bush vine over a high branch of a tall tree, and pegging the ends of the vine to the ground adjacent to the yam mound. The marou vine is then fastened to the bush vine, which acts as a stake. Marou harvesting commences in September, which roughly coincides with the end of the alolona yam harvest, and continues until late December/early January. 70
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As mentioned previously, Fiji taro is the only other crop that is cultivated to a significant extent in seremalavo gardens.
65
Fiji taro is interplanted shortly after the
yams are planted. The average planting density of Fiji taro in 1996/97 seremalavo gardens was 0.35 plants per m² in West Malo (Nanuku) and 0.146 plants per m² in East Malo (Ataripoi). Seremalavo gardens are not replanted after the yam harvest, and they are usually abandoned after the second year of production.
Fallowing Villagers in West Malo allow their gardens to return to fallow after the second year of production. In East Malo, the gardens are not fallowed until the end of the fifth year of production (though it should be noted that some fallow vegetation is allowed to grow amongst the dispersed patches of banana which are maintained in these gardens). In both East and West Malo, Fiji taro, banana, cassava, D. esculenta and some so called ‘wild yams’ continue to grow in the fallow regrowth. These plants are recognised as valuable food reserves.
Stem cuttings of Hibiscus tiliaceus and
Macaranga spp. trees, which are used as yam stakes, frequently strike in the gardens, and these two species are consequently very common in the fallow regrowth. Villagers throughout Malo, particularly young men, often plant coconuts and, to a lesser extent, cocoa in their gardens at the beginning of the cropping period. Rather than being returned to fallow at the end of the cropping period, these gardens are allowed to become pure stands of coconuts or cocoa. This process is removing arable land from the shifting cultivation cycle and it represents a significant and on-going change in land use on Malo.
66
Fallow lengths vary considerably between the three study villages.
The lowest
fallow lengths were recorded in the Avunatari region, where some villagers return to their old garden sites after as little as four years. In Ataripoi, on the other hand, four of the seven families sampled do not return to their old garden sites at all. These families have large land holdings close to the village and each year they make their gardens in fallow vegetation which is perhaps 40 or 50 years old. This was also found to be the case with three families in Nanuku, though it should be noted that two of these families cultivate gardens in a marahamba region. Although this region was last cultivated 70 or more years ago, the fallow vegetation is dominated by
Note that seremalavo gardens may contain very small amounts of banana. Rodman (1987) found a similar situation occurring in Longana on Ambae where gardens are also being displaced by coconuts: “Not only are coconuts a long-term crop, they reduce soil fertility to the extent that garden crops cannot be interplanted under mature coconuts in Longana. As cash-cropping has increased, the amount of land available for gardens has decreased so that by 1978 the only reserve of lowland garden land in Longana remained in the foothills near the Longana airstrip… Longanans with little garden land expressed concern for their future food supply” (Rodman 1987: 62–63). 65
66
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grasses and sedges, indicating that the land is degraded. Average fallow lengths for both alolona and seremalavo gardens are estimated at: 14 years in Avunatari; 22 years in Nanuku; and 35 years in Ataripoi.
ONE
ISLAN D , TW O SYSTEM S
The discussion thus far has demonstrated that there are significant differences in the shifting cultivation systems of East and West Malo. Indeed, according to the method used by Allen et al. (1995b) for delineating the spatial boundaries of agricultural systems (which was outlined at the beginning of this chapter), these differences justify the delineation of two different agricultural systems on Malo: one in the East and one in the West. The boundary between the two agricultural systems was described in Chapter Two (Figure 2.8). The key differences between these systems are as follows: •
Seremalavo gardens are much more important in East Malo, where they account for almost half of the total area used per year for subsistence gardens. Seremalavo gardens are relatively insignificant in West Malo.
As a consequence, D.
nummularia yams (marou) are considerably more important in East Malo. •
Both seremalavo and alolona gardens are, on average, larger in East Malo, particularly the former.
•
In East Malo, Fiji taro and banana are not interplanted until after the yams are harvested; whereas in West Malo these crops are interplanted shortly after the initial yam planting and a second interplanting occurs after the yams are harvested.
•
In East Malo, the cropping period for alolona gardens averages five years; whilst in West Malo it averages only two years.
•
Fallow lengths are considerably longer in East Malo.
A RBO RICULTURE Trees are cultivated, or at least exploited by gathering to some degree throughout the Pacific islands for food, medicine, clothing material, construction and other industrial uses (Yen 1974: 247). Arboriculture, the cultivation of fruit and nut trees, is an extremely important component of the agricultural systems of both East and West Malo. A wide range of useful trees are cultivated on Malo, and many of these are used for non-dietary purposes. This section focuses exclusively on trees which are cultivated for food. 72
Chapter Four
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The complete inventory of food trees cultivated on Malo was given in Chapter Two (Table 2.2). Most of these tree crops are of minor significance as sources of food, but are nevertheless important from a nutritional perspective as they provide variation and balance to the diet, and also act “as a stabilising insurance of the seasonal spread of production” (Yen 1974: 278).
67
Furthermore, several of these tree crops are
important market crops — indeed the Luganville market has provided an opportunity to make productive use of seasonal surpluses or gluts in the production of fruits and nuts. The spatial organisation of arboriculture on Malo is similar to that described by Walter and Sam for Vanuatu in general: “The fruit and nut trees are found around the villages, along the roads, near the gardens and on coconut or cocoa plantations” (1993: 46). On Malo, the highest densities and greatest diversity of food trees occur 68
along the sides of roads and bush tracks. Fruit and nut trees are also often planted (or self-sown and maintained) in gardens and continue to produce during the fallow period. However, as is the case on many of the islands of Vanuatu (see Walter and Sam 1992), arboriculture on Malo mostly occurs in the populated (village) areas of the coastal limestone fringe. These areas are essentially agro-forestry zones where a large range of economic trees are intercropped with the ubiquitous coconut.
69
The
main objectives of this section are to provide an overview of the spatial organisation of aboriculture on Malo and to briefly discuss the cultivation of breadfruit, which is the most important food tree on the island (aside from coconuts).
Ownership of fruit and nut trees Generally speaking, fruit and nut trees are owned by the person (or persons) whose land they occupy. However, an individual may seek permission to plant fruit and nut trees on land belonging to another person, and if permission is granted, both the planter and the owner of the land will have rights over the produce of the trees. Individuals also often seek permission to harvest the produce of trees belonging to others, and it seems that in most cases permission is granted. Moreover, brothers frequently have reciprocal rights with regard to the exploitation of each others fruit and nut trees. Yen (1974) also points to the importance of fruit and nut trees in the “husbandry” of both hunted and domestic animals. On Malo, flying foxes are often attracted to the low hanging fruits of breadfruit and Annona muriata, where they can be easily captured by villagers. Other hunted birds such as sotleg (Chalcophaps indica), grinpijin (Ptilinopus tannensis) and waelfaol (Galus galus) also feed on the fruits of several cultivated tree species. Coconuts and paw paw are the main sources of pig food on Malo. This was also the situation described by Yen for Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands where useful trees “occur throughout the agricultural system” (Yen 1974: 276). These agro-forestry zones are usually undergrazed with cattle, as are many of the smallholder coconut plantations. 67
68
69
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I had originally hoped to be able to comprehensively count the fruit and nut trees belonging to a certain number of sample families, with the objective of deriving some idea of the number of trees cultivated per person. However, due to the complex system of ownership and rights of exploitation outlined above and the often dispersed nature of land holdings on Malo, this proved to be very difficult. Having said this, an opportunity to carry out this work did in fact present itself in Ataripoi.
A comprehensive fruit and nut tree count (of trees belonging to one
extended family) was possible for two main reasons. Firstly, I knew exactly how 70
many people were exploiting the trees in question and they claimed to use only these trees (that is, there were no reciprocal or usufructuary arrangements with other land owners). Secondly, all of the family land was in one place and encompassed parts of both the coastal fringe and the plateau. A full day was spent walking through this land, following tracks and roads and counting fruit and nut trees as we went. Only productive trees which the landowners claimed to utilise were included. The results of this survey are presented in Table 4.3.
71
This family comprised six adults and three children. The data presented in Table 4.3 relates to only one family, and is not indicative or representative of Malo as a whole. The family in question has relatively large land holdings and it is likely that they own more fruit and nut tree than an ‘average’ family on Malo. The data is nevertheless useful as it provides some indication of the extent of fruit and nut tree holdings on Malo. 70
71
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Table 4.3
Subsistence Agriculture
Number of productive fruit and nut trees owned and used by one extended family in Ataripoi Plateau: sides of Coastal fringe: Total 1
roads and tracks;
village agro-forestry
old garden sites;
zone; plantations.
plantations. Annona muricata
0
6
6
Artocarpus altilis
15
80
95
Barringtonia spp.
22
6
28
Burkella obovata
66
0
66
Canarium spp.
6
0
6
Citrus limon
1
1
2
Citrus paradisi
3
2
5
Citrus reticulata
1
43
44
Citrus sinensis
2
3
5
Dracontomelon vitiense
141
6
147
Inocarpus fagifer
247
1
248
Mangifera indica
8
1
9
Pometia pinnata
110
10
120
Spondias cytherea
12
1
13
Syzygium malaccense
17
5
22
Terminalia catappa
12
1
13
Total
663
166
829
Notes:
1
The family in question is comprised of six adults and three children.
The fruit and nut trees listed in Table 4.3 were shared between six adults and three young children. Thus, there were approximately 92 trees per person. The incidence of Inocarpus fagifer, Pometia pinnata and mango was much greater on the plateau, whilst the incidence of breadfruit was much greater on the coastal fringe. This trend is corroborated by the results of the density counts presented below.
Fruit and nut tree densities The results of fruit and nut tree density counts conducted in various locations on Malo are given in Table 4.4. It is necessary to briefly describe the different sample locations, the precise method used in each case and any possible biases which may exist in the results. 75
Chapter Four
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Avunatari: Agro-Forestry Zone A transect (20 m × 300 m) was made through the middle of the village, on the seaward side of the main coastal road. The transect commenced at the fence on the 72
north-eastern side of the mission and proceeded parallel to the coastline (approximately 500 metres from the shore).
Two houses and one kitchen were
included in the transect area.
Avunatari: Coastal Plantation A transect (20 m × 300 m) was made through a smallholder coconut plantation on the plateau side of the main coastal road. The transect commenced near the road and proceeded in south-easterly direction (inland) toward the plateau. The coconuts in this plantation were probably planted 70 or 80 years ago.
Avunatari: Main Coastal Road Annie Walter walked along the main coastal road in a north-easterly direction, (starting at the small creek between Avunatari and Nawiambu), and counted the fruit and nut trees within 12.5 metre-wide strips on either side of the road. She also recorded the total number of steps that she walked, and knowing the average distance travelled per step, we were able to estimate the total area covered (in this case approximately 34,500 m²).
Avunatari: Bush Track Using the method described above, three metre-wide strips on either side of a bush track linking the coastal fringe and the plateau were sampled (the total area covered was approximately 4332 m²). The count commenced at the edge of the plateau (in an area used for shifting cultivation), proceeded down through the four ‘steps’ of the escarpment, and ended at a fence which demarcates the boundary of the coastal plantation mentioned above.
This track passes through an area of coconuts
underplanted with cocoa (on the first ‘step’ of the escarpment), which explains the high densities of these two crops in the sample. This track is frequently used by villagers when travelling to or from their gardens.
Avunatari: Shifting Cultivation Zone A transect (40 m × 200 m) was made through an area which is used for shifting cultivation, near the edge of the plateau. The transect area included parts of three old garden sites and one productive alolona garden (which explains the high density of paw paw in the sample). Also included in the transect were areas of fallow regrowth, part of a stand of cocoa and a narrow strip of bush which separates
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gardens from a bush track. Interestingly, this sample contained very high densities of useful trees, other than food trees, which are not included in Table 4.4. The abundance of Hibiscus tiliaceus and Macaranga spp. (127 and 77.5 trees per hectare respectively) is particularly interesting. As mentioned previously, stem cuttings of these two trees, which are used as yam stakes, frequently strike roots in the alolona gardens and subsequently tend to dominate the fallow regrowth. It should be noted that the high density of Ficus wassa in this sample could be misleading. Ficus wassa is only really a famine food, and in any case it is propagated by birds rather than by people.
Ataripoi: Coastal Plantation A large plot (65 m × 100 m) was staked out in a smallholder coconut plantation on the coastal fringe, between the village and the escarpment.
The coconuts were
probably planted between 70 and 80 years ago, and according to an informant, they were originally interplanted with cotton. The owner of this plantation claimed that the citrus trees growing in it were self sown.
Ataripoi: Plantation on Plateau A medium sized square plot (50 m × 50 m) was staked out in a smallholder coconut plantation on the edge of the plateau.
The coconuts in this plantation are also
probably between 70 and 80 years old. Table 4.4
Densities of fruit and nut trees (trees per hectare) in various locations on Malo Avunatari Avunatari Avunatari Avunatari Avunatari Ataripoi Ataripoi AgroCoastal Main Bush Shifting Coastal Plantation Forestry Plantation Coastal Track Cultivation Plantation on Plateau Zone Road Zone
Annona muricata 3.3 Annona 0 reticulata Artocarpus altilis 13.3 Barringtonia 5 spp. Burckella obovata 0 Canarium spp. 0 Carica papaya 0 Citrus limon 6.7 Citrus paradisi 0 Citrus reticulata 1.7 Citrus sinensis 3.3 Cocos nucifera 60 Dracontomelon 0 vitiense
1.6 0
5.5 1.5
0 2.3
0 0
0 0
0 0
11.6 0
15.4 2.9
7 0
7.5 0
24.6 3.1
0 0
0 0 0 3.3 0 3.3 0 116 0
0.3 0.3 4 2.6 0.3 4.3 2.6 45.8 2.9
0 4.6 0 2.3 0 41.5 6.9 21 0
0 0 37.5 0 0 2.5 0 5 0
0 0 0 1.5 0 36.9 1.5 146 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 220 4
The transect consisted of 15 consecutive 20 m × 20 m plots. A compass was used to ensure that the transect proceeded in a straight line. 72
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Ficus wassa 0 Inocarpus 5 fagifer Mangifera indica 0 Morinda citrifolia 0 Pometia pinnata 6.7 Psidium guajava 1.7 Spondias cytherea 1.7 Syzygium 1.7 malaccense Theobroma cacao 0 Terminalia 0 catappa Total 110.1
0 0
0 1.5
0 2.3
32.5 0
0 0
0 4
1.6 0 1.6 0 0 1.6
2.6 0.9 14.5 0.9 4.9 0.9
25 0 25 0 4.6 2.3
27.5 0 37.5 0 0 0
1.5 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 4 0 0 0
0 0
0 0.3
16 2.3
35 0
0 0
0 0
140.6
114.9
163.1
185
215.1
240
Total (less coconuts and cocoa) Number of species
50.1
24.6
69.1
126.1
145
69.1
20
12
8
21
14
8
7
5
A number of observations can be made with regard to Table 4.4. Firstly, the greatest diversity of food trees occurred along the sides of the main coastal road. Villagers frequently travel this road on foot, and the food trees provide them with ‘snack’ food to eat as they walk or rest. The lowest diversity of food trees occurred in the coconut plantation on the plateau near Ataripoi. Secondly, if the high densities of Ficus wassa and paw paw which occurred in the ‘Avunatari Shifting Cultivation Zone’ sample are discounted, then the greatest density of food trees was found along the sides of the bush track leading up to the plateau near Avunatari. Once again, the food trees provide a source of ‘snack’ food for villagers as they travel to and from their gardens. The lowest densities of fruit and nut trees were found in the coconut plantations (assuming that the high density of Citrus reticulata which occurred in the ‘Ataripoi Coastal Plantation’ is discounted). In general, the smallholder coconut plantations on the plateau are considerably younger than those on the coastal fringe and also tend to contain lower densities of food trees. It would therefore appear that the practice of interplanting coconuts with fruit and nut trees has been declining. Finally, it appears that some species of fruit and nut trees are mostly cultivated in the coconut plantations and the agro-forestry zones, whilst others are mostly cultivated on the plateau (either in areas used for shifting cultivation or on the sides of bush tracks).
The former category includes Barringtonia spp., Annona muriata and
breadfruit, whilst the latter includes Inocarpus fagifer, Pometia pinnata and mango.
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Breadfruit In terms of food, coconuts and breadfruit are the most important tree crops on Malo.
73
The oil of the former is consumed on a daily basis with lap-lap, and the latter is an important source of starchy food during the months of November to January. Indeed, breadfruit can be prepared in all the same ways as the staple starchy crops, yam, Fiji taro and banana. It can be ‘roasted’, boiled or made into lap-lap, and for this reason, the people of Malo regard it as a ‘meal’ food as opposed to a ‘snack’ food. It was seen in the last chapter that there is a huge diversity of named breadfruit cultivars on Malo and that this is thought to be a result of human selection of morphotypes with desirable characteristics (produced through somatic mutation or self-sown sexual propagation). Today, breadfruit is only propagated vegetatively because of the predictability of progeny performance. It is claimed that in Vanuatu 74
breadfruit produces two crops a year: a minor crop between June and August; and a major crop between November and January (Weightman 1989: 112). However, in 1997, breadfruit on Malo produced only one crop, commencing in late November, and informants said that this was ‘normal’. Arboriculture is a feature of all the working, living and travelling spaces of people on Malo. This fact, coupled with the evidence of intensive selection of breadfruit (and other food tree species) and the development of preservation and storage technologies, indicates that at some point in the past there was an intensification of the culture of fruit and trees on Malo.
On the other hand, the practice of
interplanting fruit and nut trees in coconut plantations appears to be dying out. This fact, coupled with the decline of intensive selection and breadfruit preservation and storage, points to a more recent disintensification of arboriculture on Malo. This issue will be revisited in Chapter Six.
S UBSISTEN CE
AG RICULTU RAL PRO D UCTIO N
Having described and delineated the agricultural systems of East and West Malo, it is now possible to develop temporal models of horticultural production for each of these agricultural systems. These models will combine data which has already been presented with yield and garden area data in order to derive estimates of the annual production of the three most important food crops on Malo: yam, Fiji taro and banana. Breadfruit is possibly the most important food tree in the Pacific: “It is interesting that the one crop that was to dominate the arboricultural element in Pacific agriculture was breadfruit” (Yen 1994: 37). Weightman (1989: 113) points out that in Vanuatu, breadfruit is most important on the small islands. Yen (1974: 260) found that this was also the case on Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands. 73
74
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West Malo The vast majority of gardens in West Malo are alolona gardens. First year production consists mostly of D. alata yams, although a small amount of Fiji taro and banana may be harvested after eight or nine months. However, most Fiji taro and banana will be harvested in the second year of production (that is, after 12 months and within 24 months). Small quantities of Fiji taro and banana may be harvested during the first one or two years of fallow regrowth, but the quantities are too insignificant to justify conceptualising the productive life of an alolona garden as anything greater than 24 months. Despite their relative unimportance in West Malo, the production of seremalavo gardens must nevertheless be included in the model of horticultural production. The sequence of production for these gardens is the same as it is for alolona gardens: marou yams in the first year and Fiji taro and banana in the second. Thus, during a hypothetical agricultural year (commencing in August/September), villagers in West Malo will harvest yams from their first year gardens (both alolona and seremalavo gardens) and Fiji taro and banana from their second year gardens.
East Malo Alolona and seremalavo gardens are of almost equal importance in East Malo. With regard to the former, temporal production is quite clear cut due to the fact that the planting of Fiji taro and banana does not start until the commencement of the first year yam harvest. Fiji taro and banana remain productive for an average of four years after their initial planting. The sequence of production for seremalavo gardens in East Malo is the same as it is in West Malo. Therefore, during a hypothetical year, villagers in East Malo will harvest yams from their first year alolona and seremalavo gardens, Fiji taro and banana from their second year alolona and seremalavo gardens, and Fiji taro and banana from their third, fourth and fifth year alolona gardens.
Yield estimates Massal and Barrau point out that the “agricultural” yields of yams which are calculated on agricultural research stations are likely to be much higher than the “horticultural yield of crops cultivated according to native techniques” (cited in Kirch 1994: 178). Indeed, any estimation of yield (for any crop) is entirely specific to the particularities of the agricultural systems and environments in which the crops are cultivated. In the context of mixed-cropping systems, such as those found on 80
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Malo, yield will vary between agricultural systems depending on the particular planting densities and species composition of each system. Yield will also vary from place to place depending upon environmental factors such as soil quality and rainfall. Thus, the following yield estimates relate specifically to the agricultural systems and environmental conditions on Malo.
Yams Yield estimates have been made for three of the seven species of Dioscorea cultivated in alolona gardens (D. alata, D. rotundata and D. esculenta) and for marou (D. nummularia) (Table 4.5). These estimates were derived by multiplying the average planting densities (in mounds per square metre) by the average weight per mound (in kilograms) for each of the species in question.
The final figures were then
converted to tonnes per hectare. Table 4.5 Species
Yield estimates for four yam species Average tuber Average yield
Average yield
weight
(t/ha)
(t/ha)
(kg/mound)
(West Malo)
(East Malo)
(All Malo) D. alata
5.2
12.0
12.0
D. rotundata
8.9
1.8
4.5
D. esculenta
7.0
2.8
2.1
16.6
18.6
26.5
21.6
26.5
21.6
Total (Alolona gardens) Marou Total (Seremalavo
9.8
gardens)
It should be noted that the total yield estimate given for seremalavo gardens is an absolute total; whereas the total estimate given for alolona gardens represents the combined yield of only three of the seven yam species cultivated, and subsequently is not representative of the absolute total yield of yams from alolona gardens. However, between them, these three species account for 80 per cent of the yams cultivated in alolona gardens in West Malo and 91 per cent of the yams cultivated in alolona gardens in East Malo (Table 4.2). It should also be noted that the yield estimates given for seremalavo gardens are likely to be overestimates because most of
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the tubers weighed were en route to the market in Luganville, and these tubers are thought to be heavier than those which are consumed on the island.
Fiji taro In estimating the yields of Fiji taro, it is necessary to distinguish between original plantings and replantings. This is because there is a reduction in yield per plant associated with the practice of replanting Fiji taro in a space previously occupied either by a yam, or by the Fiji taro itself. The average weight per plant for original plantings of Fiji taro is estimated at 5.1 kg; whilst the average weight per plant for replantings is estimated at 2.5 kg. Thus there is a 50 per cent reduction in the yield per plant. Yield estimates for Fiji taro at various different stages of production are presented in Table 4.6. As with the yam yield estimates, average planting densities (plants per square metres) were multiplied by the average weights per plant (kilograms), taking account of the reduction factor mentioned above, and the final figures were converted to tonnes per hectare. Table 4.6 Yield estimates for Fiji taro (t/ha) Stage of production Average yield Second year alolona
Average yield
(West Malo)
(East Malo)
19.8
1
17.9
7.4
gardens Second year seremalavo gardens Third, fourth and fifth
1
year alolona gardens (East Malo only)
Banana Bananas on Malo produce, on average, one fruit cluster per clump per year. Although banana, like Fiji taro, is replanted in the depressions which remain after the yams have been harvested, there does not appear to be any reduction in yield per plant associated with this practice. The average weight of a fruit cluster (for all banana cultivars) is estimated at 9.5 kg. Average banana yields were estimated following the same method used to estimate yam and Fiji taro yields. The results are presented in Table 4.7. 82
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Table 4.7 Yield estimates for banana (t/ha) Stage of production Average yield Second year alolona
Average yield
West Malo
East Malo
7.6
4.75
gardens Third, fouth and fifth
4.75
year alolona gardens (East Malo only)
Areas cultivated per person In order to estimate the annual production of yam, Fiji taro and banana on a per capita basis, it is necessary to calculate the amount of land cultivated per person per year. This data is presented in Table 4.8. The figure for West Malo of about 525 m² is commensurate with estimates from PNG (R. M. Bourke pers. comm., July 1998); whilst the figure given for East Malo appears to be very high.
However, it is
important to bear in mind that very little production is obtained from third, fourth and fifth year alolona gardens in East Malo, and their inclusion in the calculations means that the total area figures are somewhat inflated.
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Table 4.8: Average areas cultivated annually per person (m²) Garden Type Area cultivated per person per year West Malo First year
East Malo
254
227.6
254
227.6
7.8
217.2
7.8
217.2
N/A
186
N/A
145.2
N/A
111.8
523.6
1332.6
alolona gardens Second year alolona gardens First year seremalavo gardens Second year seremalavo gardens Third year alolona gardens Fourth year alolona gardens Fifth year alolona gardens Total Notes:
N/A = Not applicable.
Production estimates All of the data presented above can now be combined to derive estimates of the annual production of yam, Fiji taro and banana per person. These estimates are expressed as gross production and net production; with the latter taking account of planting material and edible portions (Table 4.9).
75
Interestingly, the production
figures for West and East Malo (764 and 905 kg/person/year, respectively) are quite similar despite the fact that garden areas per person are much larger in East Malo.
The average weight of D. alata planting material on Malo is about 0.6 kg; and this figure has been used to calculate net production for all species of yam. Edible portions have been taken from a food 75
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Again, this is probably due to the fact that the later year alolona gardens in East Malo are relatively unproductive.
The annual production figures equate to daily per
capita production of 2.1 kg in West Malo and 2.5 kg in East Malo. One would expect production of this order of magnitude to be achieved by a society which is largely dependent upon subsistence production to meet its nutritional requirements. Table 4.9
Production estimates of the three most important food crops on Malo (kg per person per year) Production West Malo
East Malo
421.6
422.2
20.7
469.1
Fiji taro
516.9
227.8
Banana
193.0
318.5
Total gross production
1152.2
1437.6
763.8
904.9
Alolona yams (D. alata, D. rotundata and D. esculenta) Marou yams (D. nummularia)
of starchy staple crops Total net production (i.e. taking account of planting material and edible portions)
C O N CLUSIO N Empirical data concerning the production of staple food crops on Malo has been presented in the context of a detailed description of shifting cultivation and arboriculture on the island. This description has drawn out key differences in the shifting cultivation systems of East and West Malo; differences which are significant enough to warrant the delineation of two separate agricultural systems on the island. In the broader context of the thesis, it is the differences concerning staple crops, garden size and location, and land use intensity (the relationship between cropping period and fallow length) which are of most importance. The contrasts between East
consumption survey conducted on the west coast of Santo (Walter and Tzerikiantz 1998: 12). The edible portions are as follows: 68 per cent for yam; 72 per cent for Fiji taro; and 66 per cent for banana. 85
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and West Malo will be revisited in the discussion of food security and sustainability which appears in Chapter Six. With regard to staple food production, it has been seen that yams (particularly D. alata and D. nummularia [marou]) are the most important food crops on Malo (though it should be noted that Fiji taro has surpassed yam as the dominant staple crop on West Malo). Yams determine the timing of the cultivation cycle, occupy pride of place in the gardens, and are accorded a great deal of care at all stages of their production — from planting, mounding and staking through to harvesting and storage. The production estimates for three species of yam, Fiji taro and banana are thought to be quite accurate. These estimates (and the yield estimates for individual crops) indicate that the shifting cultivation systems on Malo are achieving relatively high levels of production.
One may infer from this that the systems are reasonably
‘healthy’ in terms of soil fertility; and that, in the absence of any other soil fertility maintenance techniques, fertility is being maintained by the use of the fallow period. The production estimates will be revisited in Chapter Six where they are combined with food import and export data in order to generate a quantitative description of the overall food supply system.
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C HAPTER F IVE : T RADE A ND I NCOME Contemporary livelihood strategies on Malo involve the allocation of resources, particularly land and labour, to a combination of both subsistence and cash-earning activities. Cash is now regarded by people on Malo as essential to their well being. It provides access to health care and education, and it pays for transport, clothes, kerosene, soap, tools, building materials, tobacco, kava and a myriad of other things including, of course, imported foods. The consumption of imported foods, which accounts for about a third of overall household expenditure on Malo, is an important contributor to food security. Indeed, much like the fruit and nut trees described in the previous chapter, imported foods provide an underlying stability and consistency to the annual supply of food. Moreover, the ability to consume imported foods becomes indispensable in the event that subsistence production is damaged by drought or cyclone. The production of copra is the primary source of income on Malo.
Cocoa
production, and the sale of fruits, nuts, vegetables and other products at the market in Luganville, are also important sources of income. Other (minor) sources include: wages (paid from sources external to the island); remittances; and the production of minor cash crops including vanilla, pepper and chilli. This chapter arises largely from the fact that all goods and people moving to and from Malo must pass across Naonepan beach on south Santo.
76
This situation
provided the opportunity to survey the volume and composition of trade between Malo and Santo. The six month survey, which focused primarily on the trade of food products, captured the volumes of flows of the following: •
Goods exported from Malo for sale at the Luganville market, including fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables, seafood, chickens, pigs and hand-made items such as mats and baskets.
•
Goods exported from Malo for non-commercial purposes, including food for family members working, or attending school or hospital, on Santo; and bride price payments of food and livestock destined for villages on Santo or elsewhere in the archipelago.
•
Store-purchased food products imported to Malo, including rice, flour, tinned fish, sugar and alcohol.
Exports of copra and cocoa from Malo are an important exception to this state of affairs. The majority of copra and cocoa exports from Malo are taken by boat directly to the VCMB purchasing office in Luganville. 76
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•
Trade and Income
Local food products imported to Malo, including unsold market products, and food intended for auto-consumption or for bride price payments.
The primary objectives of this chapter are to estimate the income derived from copra and cocoa production, and from the sale of fresh food produce; to provide qualitative descriptions of cash crop production and marketing; to estimate the net-flow of local food products to and from Malo; and to estimate the volume and value of storepurchased food products imported to Malo. In the next chapter, this information is synthesised with data presented in the previous chapter in order to describe and comment upon the contemporary food supply situation on Malo.
I N CO M E Income estimates Income has been estimated on an annual average income per capita basis for each of the three most important sources of income (copra, cocoa and the sale of products at the market in Luganville). Copra is clearly the most important source of income on 77
Malo. In 1997, it accounted for approximately 75 per cent of the total income derived from the three sources in question (Table 5.1).
78
This method takes the entire island as its unit of production; considers income flows to the island, as opposed to redistributive flows within the island; does not account for production and marketing costs; and assumes that all residents of Malo derive income equally from the three sources in question. This approach is thought to provide a reasonable indication of the annual income of an ‘average’ person on Malo. According to raw data from the 1997 Agricultural Census for Malo (which was kindly provided to me by the DAH Field Assistant on Malo, Fred Boi), 90 per cent of the 50 households enumerated cited copra as their main source of income. Six per cent of households cited the Luganville market, two per cent cited the sale of kava, and two per cent cited the sale of pigs. 77
78
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Table 5.1 Estimates of income on Malo in 1997 Source of income Estimated Estimated volume of sales revenue (where relevant) (vatu) (tonnes) Copra 70,986,550 2,150
Estimated revenue per person (vatu) 20,576
242
Cocoa
132.4
13,712,750
3,975
47
Luganville
169.2
10,151,874
2,943
35
Wages (external)
N/A
Small
3
Small
Small
Remittances
N/A
Small
3
Small
Small
Minor cash crops
Negligible
Negligible
Negligible
Negligible
27,494
323
1
2
Estimated revenue per person ($A)
Market
(Vanilla,
pepper,
chilli) Total
Notes:
Almost all copra produced was Grade One. 41 per cent was produced by plantations; 59 per cent was produced by smallholders. 28 per cent of plantation production was sold directly to the VCMB in Luganville; 72 per cent was sold to the two official VCMB agents on Malo. With regard to smallholder production: 19 per cent was sold to the VCMB in Luganville; 47 per cent was sold to VCMB agents on Malo; 30 per cent was sold to traders on Malo; and 4 per cent was sold to cooperatives. 1
69 per cent Grade One; 28 per cent Grade Two; three per cent Grade Three. 40 per cent was sold directly to the VCMB in Luganville; 60 per cent was sold to traders on Malo. 2
The income earned from wages and remittances is unknown but is thought to be small compared with the income earned from the sale of copra, cocoa and fresh food at the Luganville market. 3
Data concerning the production of copra and cocoa was obtained from the VCMB office in Luganville. The VCMB is the sole exporter of copra, cocoa and kava from Vanuatu, and all of the copra and cocoa produced on Malo is ultimately sold to the VCMB office in Luganville.
79
VCMB purchasing records also yielded information
concerning the marketing of copra and cocoa produced on Malo. This information is
A New Zealand company called Carmille Trading purchased and exported copra, mainly from the Santo rural hinterland, between 24 June and 6 August, 1997. This company purchased a small amount of copra from Malo which has been included in the estimates given in Table 5.1. 79
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summarised in the notes to Table 5.1 and is discussed in more depth in the text below. Estimates of the volume and value of sales of fresh food and other products at the market in Luganville were derived from 27 weeks of data collected at Naonepan beach and at the market house. It is acknowledged that the extrapolation of results from 27 weeks to one year is somewhat problematic given the seasonal nature of many of the crops in question. However, it is assumed that the overall volume of marketed products remains quite constant throughout the year, despite changes in product composition; and that, notwithstanding price variation, the overall value of marketed products also remains fairly constant. The marketing of fresh foods and other products is discussed in more depth below. The estimated per capita annual income of approximately 27,500 vatu (or $A323) (Table 4.1) is thought to compare favourably with incomes in other rural parts of Vanuatu.
80
In 1999, Bourke surveyed agricultural systems on eight islands in the
archipelago and estimated average household incomes from agricultural sources to range between 18,000 and 150,000 vatu per year (not including the main kava producing areas on Pentecost where incomes are much higher) (1999b: 12). Assuming an average household size of five persons (Statistics Office 1991a: 39) this equates to a range of 3600 to 30,000 vatu per capita, so the estimate from Malo is at the upper end of this range. Thus, it could be said that per capita incomes on Malo are relatively high. However, there are thought to be quite large disparities in the distribution of income on the island; and before proceeding to examine the sources of income in more depth, it is necessary to briefly discuss these disparities.
A note on the distribution of income The distribution of income on Malo is by no means uniform. To borrow a term employed by Muriel Brookfield (1979: 189–193), one can generalise various types of “resource users” on the island, ranging from the owners of large coconut plantations, to the mostly subsistence-oriented smallholders who dabble in small-scale export and market cash crop production. In light of the dominance of copra as a source of income on Malo, it is thought that the distribution of income on the island is closely related to the distribution of land holdings in general, and the distribution of coconut Between 1983 and 1993, real GDP per capita for Vanuatu fluctuated between about 77,000 and 85,000 vatu per year (Fallon 1994: 7). However, the gross discrepancies in income which are thought to exist between expatriates and ni-Vanuatu (with the former group earning up to 10 times as much as the latter), and between rural and urban areas, mean that comparisons with GDP are largely meaningless (Fallon 1994: 6–7; ADB 1997: 5–6). 80
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plantation land in particular. Rodman (1987; 1995) has demonstrated this to be the case in Longana on Ambae, arguing that “[i]ncome inequality arises from inequality in plantation land distribution, which is in turn a consequence of customary land tenure” (1987: 115). I did not undertake any formal surveys of the distribution of plantation land on Malo. However, my observations suggest that the situation on the island is similar to that described by Rodman for Longana, where, in 1978, five per cent of the population controlled 31 per cent of plantation land, and the largest land holders were earning at least five times as much revenue from copra as “ordinary Longanans” (Rodman 1995: 102). There are both differences and similarities in the historical processes which have resulted in the inequitable distributions of land holdings which now exist on Malo and Ambae. The crucial difference between the two cases is that on Malo a handful of customary land owners are currently profiting from the ownership of large coconut plantations which were originally planted by European land alienators; whereas, on Ambae, the European land alienators did not plant coconuts or other cash crops, but instead chose to trade in coconuts and copra produced by the indigenous population (Rodman 1987: 27–30). In the late 19th century, Europeans alienated large amounts of land throughout Vanuatu, but much of this land was never developed (as was the case on Ambae) (see Bonnemaison 1994; Van Trease 1984, 1987). However, it was seen in Chapter Three that the situation on Malo (and also on Aore) was somewhat exceptional because large amounts of alienated land were in fact developed into plantations. These plantations were returned to their customary owners after Independence in 1980, though the ownership of at least two of them is still under dispute. Today, the people on Malo with the largest holdings of coconut plantation land are those who own, or have a stake in the ownership of, plantations which were originally established by Europeans.
In other words, there is a fundamental
distinction, both in terms of land holdings and income, between the owners of the old European coconut plantations, on the one hand, and smallholders, on the other. Although the precise number of people in the former category is unknown, they would certainly amount to no more than a few per cent of the total population of Malo. Yet, according to my estimates, their plantations accounted for approximately 41 per cent of the copra exported from Malo in 1997 (see Table 5.1).
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Inequalities of land holdings and income also exist amongst the smallholders of Malo.
Indeed, this is the type of differentiation which, in the absence of the
establishment of European plantations, occurred in Longana. Rodman (1987; 1995) argues that the inequitable distribution of land in Longana which exists today has been facilitated by the particularities of the Longanan customary land tenure system, and by the ability of certain male individuals (referred to by Rodman as “masters of tradition”) to exploit this system.
In particular, it seems that the competitive
redistributions of land which occur at funerals have enabled wealthy Longanans to steadily increase their landholdings at the direct expense of “…those whose numbers and customary wealth are declining…” (Rodman 1995: 90). Although funerary redistributions of wealth do take place on Malo, they are noncompetitive in nature, and involve cash and pigs rather than land.
81
However, the
customary land tenure system on Malo does have features which are in common with the Longana system, and which have contributed to differentiation amongst smallholders in both places. The acquisition of land through purchase, for example, is recognised by the customary land tenure systems of both Malo and Longana, and has undoubtedly contributed to inequalities in the distribution of land and income in both places. However, perhaps more important than the substance of customary land tenure is the ability to use it to one’s advantage. This lies at the crux of Rodman’s argument: the masters of tradition are men who have been able to convince others, through the use of their knowledge of customary land tenure and of the historical relationships between people and places, of the superiority of their claims to land. According to Rodman: The extent of a land holder’s individual power, however, depends on the relative influence of close kin, as well as on his knowledge and ability to persuade others of the validity of his account of the history of the land. This is the art of gaindumu, which in this context means detailed knowledge of ties between people and land. It is both a mode of evaluation and a means of explanation (1995: 88). This “art of gaindumu” is also a very potent force in the politics of land on Malo. Rubinstein (1978: 32–69) points out that the men who tend to succeed in land disputes are those who are able to master both the facts of the case and the more
81
See Rubinstein (1978: 356) for a more detailed discussion of funerary redistributions on Malo. 92
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general principles of Malo customary land law. With regard to the facts, knowledge 82
of the connections between people and places is of crucial importance: “[s]ignificant facts about a person’s past of which he, himself, may not be aware are held by others in society and in such land discussions may be evoked. These facts, quite literally, explain what a person is at a particular place in life” (Rubinstein 1978: 35–36). Rubinstein concludes his discussion of land disputes on Malo by drawing a useful analogy between land dispute hearings and the card game ‘last card’, which is commonly played throughout Vanuatu: Cards, like knowledge, are held individually and are not seen by opponents. Remembering those cards which have already been played is part of the strategy. Throwing down certain cards changes the entire course of events…The game is fast moving, but is divided into a number of rounds that may take a considerable length of time. It gives the illusion of being left totally to chance. It is always accompanied by a great deal of verbal bluster. But the most skilful players always seem to win [emphasis added] (1978: 68– 69). It is important to note that it is the ability to exploit customary land tenure on Malo which has enabled certain men to “win” the disputes over the ownership of the large, formerly European-owned coconut plantations which were returned to the customary land owners at the time of Independence. Indeed, the battle for the ownership of some of these plantations continues and no doubt the “most skilful players” will ultimately prevail. Thus, the art of gaindumu, as practised on Malo, has allowed some smallholders to acquire more land at the expense of other smallholders, and has also allowed some men to obtain ownership of large coconut plantations at the expense of other claimants. A further cause of economic differentiation on Malo can be found in the fact that the most skilful players have been able to successfully use their profits from copra (and to a lesser extent cocoa) to diversify into other forms of wealth accumulation. In this manner, these men and their sons have become the copra and cocoa traders of Malo. They may also operate ‘transport’ boats and trucks, as well as stores and kava bars. One such man, who resides in the Amalo area of south-east Malo, owns a large amount of smallholder (as opposed to formerly European-owned) coconut plantation land. He is recognised as one of the skilful players of Malo, and it seems likely that his ability to exploit customary land tenure has enabled him to obtain, and maintain, ownership of this land. This man also owns trucks and copra dryers. He operates a Rubinstein (1978: 32–69) provides transcripts of two land dispute hearings which took place whilst he was on Malo, and judging by the nature of the disputes which I ‘tuned into’ whilst I was on the island, it seems that little has changed over the past 20 years or so. 82
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store and a kava bar, and he employees labourers from Ambrym, for whom he provides land for houses and gardens. It appears that men such as these — the masters of tradition of Longana and the most skilful players of Malo — have emerged as an important socio-economic force in many parts of Vanuatu and Melanesia in general. Bonnemasion (1980) variously refers to these men as “island entrepreneurs”, “Melanesian entrepreneurs” and “neobigmen”, and argues that their emergence has been “[o]ne of the main social features…in all of the islands of the New Hebrides” (1980: 184). His description of the income-generating activities of entrepreneurs in Central Pentecost finds many similarities with the activities of entrepreneurs on Malo: The main profits of the entrepreneur arise from the direct production of copra and cocoa; the collection and re-selling of copra to the trading firms; the operation of cars/taxis (very often a ‘businessman’ starts by owning a car which allows the collection of copra and carrying it to the coast); cattle and the sale of meat to the school and to people at the time of custom rituals; and finally the revenues earned from the stores (1980: 165). It should be noted that there is an important geographic bias in the distribution of land and income on Malo which favours residents of East Malo.
All of my
informants on Malo, be they from East or West, agreed that, in general, people on East Malo own more land and earn more money than people on West Malo. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the large coconut plantations on East Malo are mostly owned by residents of East Malo. Secondly, due to the heavy depopulation which occurred on East Malo (as described in Chapter Three), current population densities are considerably lower than on West Malo, and as a consequence, the customary land owners of East Malo have larger land holdings than those of West Malo. Finally, all residents of East Malo, be they indigenous to the island or not, benefit from the wage labour opportunities offered by the plantations. In addition to this geographic bias, there a gender bias in the distribution of income on Malo, which tends to favour men over women. Although both men and women participate in the initial stages of copra and cocoa production, it seems that men are generally responsible for the marketing stage.
Consequently men, rather than
women, receive the money at the end of the day. Furthermore, my observations suggest that it is mostly men who are employed on plantations and as casual labourers; and it seems that most, if not all, of the entrepreneurs described above are also men. It is important to note that in recent years the Luganville fresh food market
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has been providing a source of income for women from Malo, and is to some extent helping to redress the inequitable distribution of income between the genders. To briefly summarise this section, the distribution of land and income on Malo is thought to be quite inequitable. One can draw a general distinction, in terms of wealth, between the owners of large, formerly European-owned coconut plantations, on the one hand, and smallholders, on the other. Further inequality exists amongst smallholders themselves, some of whom have accumulated land at the expense of others. It has been argued that economic differentiation on Malo has been facilitated by substantive aspects of the Malo system of customary land tenure and, more importantly, by the ability of certain individuals to exploit this system. Income inequality has been compounded by the fact that many of these individuals have been able to successfully diversify into other forms of wealth accumulation. Finally, it has been demonstrated that there are geographic and gendered biases in the distribution of land and income on Malo which favour residents of East Malo at the expense of residents of West Malo, and men at the expense of women.
Copra Copra is Vanuatu’s major export commodity (DAH 1996: 2; Statistics Office 1997: 6). Between 1994 and 1996 copra accounted for 42.2 per cent of the total value of exports from Vanuatu (Statistics Office 1997: 6), and between 1991 and 1995 copra exported from Vanuatu represented 11.7 per cent of total global copra exports (DAH 1996: 2). It is important to note, however, that the relative importance of copra has been declining over the past decade or so due to the diversification of the national export base (into products such as timber, “squash pumpkin”, sea shells and kava) and the expansion of beef exports (Statistics Office 1997: 6). The contribution made by Malo to national copra production is quite significant. In 1996, copra from Malo accounted for approximately 11 per cent of total national production.
83
Moreover, in comparison with the other copra producing islands in
Vanuatu, Malo produces a very large amount of copra per capita. A synthesis of population and copra production data for 1989 (which was the year of the last official population census) reveals that, in that year, Malo was the second highest per capita producer of copra in the archipelago, after Aore (Table 5.2).
84
This information was obtained from the VCMB database in Port Vila on 6 August 1997. Aore, however, was severely depopulated during the blackbirding era, and in the early part of the 20th century almost the entire island was alienated by French planters who established the coconut 83
84
95
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plantations which still cover approximately half of the area of the island (see Table 3.1; Bonnemaison 1994: 91; Miller 1990: 40). 96
Chapter Five
Table 5.2 Island
Aore
Trade and Income
Copra production for copra producing islands in Vanuatu in 1989 Copra Population Copra production production (tonnes) (tonnes per person) 547 478 1.14
Malo
1,811
2,862
0.63
Ambrym
2,701
7,191
0.38
Malakula
7,076
19,298
0.37
Ambae/Maewo
3,489
10,958
0.32
Santo
6,367
22,284
0.29
Banks/Torres
1,088
5,985
0.18
Epi
517
3,628
0.14
Pentecost
708
11,341
0.06
Shepherds
109
3,975
0.03
Paama
16
1,696
0.01
Efate
297
30,868
0.01
TAFEA
181
22,423
0.01
Province Source:
Statistics Office (1991a); VCMB database, Port Vila.
Copra production on Malo, and in Vanuatu in general, has fluctuated quite markedly over the last 15 years or so; whereas cocoa production has remained relatively stable (see Figures 5.1 and 5.2).
These fluctuations have been attributed to cyclones,
drought, and variations in the price of copra offered by the VCMB (ADB 1997: 136). However, copra production on Malo has not been subject to the downward trend which has characterised national production. To the contrary, since 1988 there has been a slight upward trend in copra production on Malo (Figure 5.1).
97
Chapter Five
Figure 5.1
Trade and Income
Copra and cocoa exported from Malo between 1981 and 1997
4000
3500
Quantity (tonnes)
3000
2500 Copra Cocoa
2000
1500
1000
500
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
0
Year
Source:
Statistics Office database, Luganville.
Figure 5.2
National production of copra and cocoa between 1983 and 1996
60000
50000
Quantity (tonnes)
40000
Copra
30000
Cocoa
20000
10000
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
0
Year
Source:
VCMB database, Port Vila.
The history of commercial coconut exploitation on Malo was presented in Chapter Three. Today, almost every household on Malo cultivates coconuts as a cash crop. 98
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In the 1994 Agricultural Census, 95 per cent of households on Malo and Aore (the results were aggregated for the two islands) were reported to possess coconut trees, and 87 per cent of households were reported to have sold copra in the previous year (Statistics Office 1994: 37, 41). As mentioned previously, people on Malo, particularly young men, are continuing to plant coconuts. In the 1997 Agricultural Census, respondents were asked how many coconut and cocoa trees they had planted in the past 12 months. On Malo, an average of 37.3 coconuts were planted per household. Most people on Malo now conform to the nine metre planting spacing for coconuts which is advised by the DAH, giving a planting density of approximately 120 coconuts per hectare. Therefore, one can surmise that on Malo an average of 0.31 hectares is being planted with coconuts per household per year. Importantly, coconuts are now being planted in areas which were formerly the exclusive domain of shifting cultivation. The spatial history of coconut planting on Malo is easily inferred from the present arrangement of coconut groves. The oldest coconuts are on the coastal fringe, and they become increasingly younger on the raised terraces and up onto the plateau. This pattern of land use has come about as a direct consequence of people planting coconuts in their gardens at the beginning of the cropping period, and then, instead of returning the gardens to fallow at the conclusion of the cropping period, allowing them to become pure stands of coconuts.
Smallholder copra production and marketing There are two main stages in the smallholder production of copra on Malo. Firstly, fallen coconuts are gathered together, split open with an axe or bush knife and shelled out with a copra knife. This task is generally undertaken in groups of two: one person splits the coconuts, whilst the other shells out the meat.
85
Secondly, the
coconut meat is dried, usually in either wood-fuelled ‘smoke’ or ‘hot-air’ dryers. However, sometimes it is dried in the sun. Hot-air and sun dried copra is of a superior quality to smoke dried copra, and subsequently attracts higher prices (see Table 5.3). Ownership of, or access to, copra dryers is an important limiting factor for many smallholder copra producers. Indeed, most of the copra which is sold to traders and cooperatives is sold ‘green’ (undried), and is generally hot-air dried before being resold to the VCMB. The VCMB purchasing records from which I derived estimates of copra and cocoa production also provided information concerning the marketing of these commodities. With regard to smallholder copra, approximately 19 per cent is sold directly to the VCMB in Luganville; 47 per cent is sold to the two official VCMB
99
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agents on Malo; 30 per cent is sold to traders; and four per cent is sold to cooperatives. In 1997, there were eight licensed copra traders on Malo all of whom were purchasing copra. In addition to these traders, three cooperative societies (at Avunatari, Nanuku and Avunambulu) were also purchasing copra.
86
The above figures relate only to the total amount of smallholder copra sold and tell us little about the actual marketing behaviour of individual households.
Such
information is, however, available from the 1997 Agricultural Census in which households were asked how they marketed any copra sold in the past 12 months. Eighty-five per cent of households on Malo reported selling their copra to a local buyer, including cooperatives and the two VCMB agents; whilst the remaining 15 per cent reported selling their copra directly to the VCMB in Luganville. The prices offered by different purchasers for different types of copra are listed in Table 5.3. Although the highest prices are offered by the VCMB in Luganville, producers who wish to take their copra to town must incur significant transport and labour costs. Similarly, producers who wish to sell their copra on Malo must weigh 87
the higher prices paid for dried (as opposed to green) copra against the costs of hiring a dryer, transporting their copra to and from the dryer, and paying for people to assist in the process.
88
Furthermore, dried copra takes significantly longer to
produce than green copra. Table 5.3
Prices paid for copra produced on Malo (vatu per tonne), current at December 1997 Type of copra Traders Avunatari Nanuku VCMB VCMB Cooperative Cooperative agents (on purchasing Society Society Malo) office (in Luganville) Green copra 8,000–11,000 12,000 (producer N/A N/A N/A pays transport); 10,500 Assistants are generally paid 200 vatu for each bag of copra produced. Individuals and cooperative societies wishing to trade in copra must obtain annual licenses from the Provincial Government in Luganville. Seven of the eight individual copra traders operating in 1997 were only licensed to purchase green copra, whilst the other one was only licensed to purchase dry copra. The cooperatives at Nanuku and Avunambulu were only licensed to purchase green copra, whilst the cooperative at Avunatari was licensed to purchase both green and dry copra. Producers pay the following transport prices for copra: between 100 and 200 vatu per bag for transport by four wheel drive utility from the village of origin (on Malo) to a boat landing (also on Malo); 100 vatu per bag for transport by boat from Malo to Naonepan; and 100 vatu per bag for transport by four wheel drive utility from Naonepan to Luaganville. When taking their copra to town producers usually employ one or two men to assist with the carriage. These assistants are generally paid 300–400 vatu per trip. An informant at Ataripoi pays 1500 vatu per batch for the hire of a hot-air copra dryer, and 150 vatu per bag for the transport of his copra to the dryer and from the dryer to the VCMB agent’s premises. He usually produces about 10 bags of hot-air dried copra at a time, and at that quantity, his costs represent approximately 15 per cent of his total revenue. 85
86
87
88
100
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(Coop pays transport) Grade One Unknown copra (sun and 'hot air' dried) Grade Two Unknown copra ('smoke' dried)
27,000
28,000
30,000
33,019
23,000
23,000
25,000
28,019
Coconut trees bear nuts fairly consistently throughout the year, which means that smallholder producers are free of the seasonal constraints which characterise cocoa production (see below). Smallholders on Malo produce copra an average of four or five times a year. Most people make copra just before Christmas (in order to earn cash to purchase imported foods and gifts), but apart from that, production does not follow any sort of temporal pattern and tends to be intermittent in nature. Rodman found a similar situation on Ambae: “Other demands on their [Longanans’] labour time, as well as the monotony and hard physical work of copra production ensure that copra-making is intermittent even among those Longanans who make copra regularly” (Rodman 1987: 94). Rodman (1987: 94) also observed that smallholders in Longana rarely make copra on two consecutive days.
This is not, however, the case on Malo.
Recall that
approximately 70 per cent of copra produced by smallholders on Malo is sold directly to the VCMB (either on Malo or in Luganville), which only purchases dry copra. The drying process, be it smoke or hot-air drying, takes approximately two days, during which time the fires must be maintained and the copra must be turned. Thus, on Malo it is not unusual for an individual to spend three consecutive days making copra. It should be noted, however, that the majority of the 30 per cent of smallholder copra which is sold to traders and cooperatives (on Malo) is sold green and is generally produced and sold on the same day. Indeed, the permanent presence of copra traders who purchase a range of different types and qualities of copra makes it very easy for people on Malo to sell their copra. Moreover, it seems that all copra which is offered for sale is purchased, and in this manner, copra production provides a means to earn cash quickly.
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Cocoa The importance of cocoa to the national economy is minor in comparison to copra. Between 1994 and 1996, cocoa accounted for 6.7 per cent of the total value of exports from Vanuatu (Statistics Office 1997: 6). As with copra, the relative importance of cocoa as an export commodity has declined over the past decade or so, but only slightly. Malo is a significant contributor to national cocoa production.
In 1996, cocoa
produced on Malo accounted for approximately 10 per cent of total national production. Cocoa production (both on Malo and in Vanuatu as a whole) has remained fairly constant over the past 15 years or so, particularly in relation to copra production (see Figures 5.1 and 5.2). Since 1981 there has been a discernible, but slight, upward trend in cocoa production on Malo (see Figure 5.1).
History of cocoa production on Malo Cocoa was introduced to Malo by European planters who, by 1955, had established five cocoa plantations on the island (Bennett cited in Wilson 1966). However, the Maloese did not start to produce cocoa as a cash crop until the 1970s. This was largely due to a lack of knowledge and information concerning the correct way to prepare cocoa for the market, a process which is considerably more complicated than the preparation of marketable copra. This lack of knowledge was remedied by the establishment of agricultural extension services in the 1970s. Since the 1970s, cocoa has been rapidly adopted by smallholder producers on Malo. In the 1994 Agricultural Census, 80 per cent of households enumerated on Malo and Aore reported owning cocoa trees, and all of these households reported selling cocoa in the previous year (Statistics Office 1994: 61).
Although these statistics were
aggregated for Aore and Malo, the text of the Census emphasises the high levels of cocoa tree ownership on Malo: Particularly high levels of ownership were expressed for Malekula where 82 per cent of households have cocoa. Similar ownership levels were expressed for Malo Island and West Coast Santo, the two major cocoa producing regions in Santo/Malo [emphasis added] (Statistics Office 1994: 51). According to the 1997 Agricultural Census, households on Malo planted an average of 64.1 cocoa trees in the 12 months preceding the census. At an estimated planting density of 625 trees per hectare (which Weightman [1989: 214] cites as typical for smallholder cocoa plantations in Vanuatu), this is equivalent to 0.1 hectares planted 102
Chapter Five
Trade and Income
to cocoa per household per year.
As mentioned previously, cocoa is often
interplanted underneath coconut trees. It is also cultivated as a monoculture, though never as a true monoculture because its shade requirements demand that it is grown under large shade trees. Fruit and nut trees, such as golden apple and canarium nut, are commonly used for this purpose.
Smallholder cocoa production and marketing The production of cocoa requires a considerably greater amount of time and capital equipment than the production of copra. The first stage of cocoa production involves removing the pods from the trees using a knife or a sharpened stick. The pods are then broken open with a wooden club and the beans are removed and placed in wooden fermentation vats which are covered with hessian copra bags.
The
fermenting beans are turned once every two or three days and are removed after seven days. They are then dried in a wood fuelled hot-air dryer. This requires two to three days of constant heating, during which time the beans are turned two or three times per day. In light of the significant investments of capital and labour which are required for the production of marketable cocoa, a large proportion (60 per cent) of smallholder cocoa is sold as ‘wet bean’ to traders on Malo. These middlemen have the necessary capital, expertise and time to process wet bean into ‘Grade One’ cocoa, which is then sold at a premium to the VCMB.
89
In 1997, there were 16 licensed cocoa traders on
Malo, including the cooperative societies at Avunatari and Avunabulu.
90
The
remaining 40 per cent of smallholder cocoa is sold directly to the VCMB in Luganville. (The two VCMB agents on Malo do not purchase cocoa). It should be noted that 77 per cent of households enumerated on Malo in the 1997 Agricultural Census reported selling their cocoa to local buyers; whilst the remaining 23 per cent of households reported selling their cocoa to the VCMB in Luganville. The prices offered by different purchasers for different types and qualities of cocoa are listed in Table 5.4. The highest prices are offered by the VCMB in Luganville. However, as is the situation with copra, producers who wish to sell their cocoa in town must incur significant marketing expenses. In fact, given the greater value of cocoa relative to copra, ‘transport’ truck and boat operators generally charge twice as much to transport cocoa than they do to transport copra (that is, 200 vatu per bag, as opposed to 100 vatu per bag for copra).
The VCMB grades copra according to a three tiered system and pays different prices for different grades (see Table 5.4). Individuals and societies wishing to trade in cocoa must obtain annual licenses from the DAH. 89
90
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Table 5.4
Prices paid for cocoa produced on Malo (vatu per tonne), current at December 1997 Type of cocoa Traders Avunatari Avunabulu VCMB Cooperative Cooperative purchasing Society Society office (in Luganville) Wet bean 25,000–35,000 30,000 Unknown N/A Grade One cocoa N/A
N/A
N/A
112,500
Grade Two cocoa N/A
N/A
N/A
97,500
Grade Three cocoa
N/A
N/A
70,500
N/A
Unlike copra production, cocoa production is seasonal. Although cocoa trees may produce pods throughout the year, pod production on Malo is optimal between the months of May and October. During this period producers must harvest their cocoa every 10 to 14 days in order to prevent the beans from germinating and to avoid damage by rats.
The Luganville Market Although the income earned from the sale of goods at the market in Luganville is relatively small, most of this income flows to women, who make up the vast majority of market vendors. In this manner, the market helps to redress the gender bias in the distribution of income on Malo. This is important because from my observations and conversations with people on Malo, it seems that women tend to have a more responsible attitude than men towards their expenditure. Women are more likely to spend their money on essential items such as food, kerosene, soap and school fees, and less likely to spend it on alcohol, kava, cigarettes and gambling.
91
More symbolically, the participation of women from Malo in the Luganville market indicates the relaxation of traditional restrictions on the movements of women between the islands for the purposes of trade. Inter-island trading voyages are nothing new to the Maloese. It was seen in Chapter Three that Malo is thought to have played a central role in the traditional exchanges of goods which occurred between the islands in the north of the archipelago up until the 1930s. However, there is evidence to suggest that it was only men who had achieved high rank in the Sumbuea system who were permitted to travel to other islands for the Note that Greindl (1997), in her study of the Luganville market, found that some women do in fact spend some of their earnings from the market on gambling at the two small ‘casinos’ in Luganville. However, most of the clients at these gambling establishments are men rather than women. 91
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purposes of trade: women and men of low rank were strictly forbidden from undertaking such voyages (Bonnemaison 1985: 61–64; Huffman 1996: 187).
92
Today,
the Sumbuea system no longer exists on Malo, and women (and all men) are free to travel between the islands as they wish.
The history of the Luganville market McGee et al. provide the following account of the origins of the market in Luganville: It appears to have grown up as a spontaneous development due the decision of one individual in 1968 to bring produce from his village to sell. He was soon joined by some of his fellow villagers and since then many other villagers from surrounding areas have started sending produce to the market (1980: 132). Prior to the construction of the market house in 1976, the vendors used to locate themselves on the pavements outside the stores along the main street of town (Greindl 1997: 14; McGee et al. 1980: 134). The market house, which is located in the Sarakata district of town between Second Canal and the Sarakata river, was expanded in 1996 and now occupies an area of 700 m² (Greindl 1997: 14). The development of the market in Luganville corresponded with a large increase in the town’s population (from 1384 in 1955 to 3804 in 1972), and more importantly, with a very large increase in the proportion of ni-Vanuatu residents (see McGee et al. 1980: 130; 239, Fig. 6). The significant increase in the ni-Vanuatu population of Luganville generated a strong demand for local foods which did not previously exist. Importantly, both the population of Luganville and the proportion of ni-Vanuatu residents continued to increase during the 1970s and 1980s.
The population of
Luganville increased to 5183 in 1979, and 6983 in 1989 (and was estimated at 10,100 in 1996); whilst the proportion of ni-Vanuatu residents increased from 60 per cent in 1967, to 76 per cent in 1979, 92 per cent in 1986, and 96 per cent in 1989 (Greindl 1997: 123, Figure 23). Prior to the development of the market, a small amount of local food was sold to Vietnamese people who lived in Luganville and in other parts of Santo. Between the 1920s and 1960s, there was a substantial population of Vietnamese people living in Vanuatu. These people were originally recruited from Vietnam, under the auspices of the French colonial administration, to work as indentured labourers on Europeanowned cash crop plantations (Bonnemaison 1994: 90–91). According to Bennett (cited Somewhat ironically, the movement of women between islands for the purpose of marriage was an important aspect of the traditional trade system. According to Huffman, intermarriage was a common way of cementing trading relationships between different groups of people. In these intermarriages it was almost always the brides, rather than the grooms, who had to uproot themselves and go and live with a new group of people. 92
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in McGee et al. 1980: 230, Fig. 6), there were 746 “Asians” (a category which probably included Chinese as well as Vietnamese) living in Luganville in 1955, comprising 54 per cent of the town’s total population.
By 1967 the “Asian” population of
Luganville had fallen to 177, representing seven per cent of the town’s population, and has remained fairly constant since then (Bonnemaison 1994: 91; McGee et al. 1980: 239, Fig. 6). According to informants, people from Malo used to sell fresh produce (including citrus fruits, banana, mangos, chickens and pigs) to Vietnamese people on Santo during the 1920s and 30s, and after the Second World War.
Citrus fruits (and
possibly some other fresh foods) were also sold to US troops who were stationed on Santo and Malo during the Second World War. These sales represent the first known exchanges of foods produced on Malo for cash. The participation of women from Malo in the Luganville market appears to be a relatively recent phenomenon. In the course of interviewing 17 women from Malo about their marketing activities, I asked each of them when they had started attending the market. The earliest year cited (by three women) was 1981. However, 93
the other 14 women interviewed said that they had only started attending the market sometime in the last 10 years (that is, since 1987).
A note on field methods and the routine of marketing The marketing activities of vendors from Malo follow a particular routine (which is largely determined by the routine of the market itself), and this routine had to be studied in the field before appropriate survey methods could be implemented. The market operates six days a week, and vendors are allocated sets of two consecutive days on which they can attend.
These are grouped as Monday and Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday and Saturday. The market is also open at night on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but is closed on other nights and on Sundays. The SANMA Provincial Government produces a bi-annual timetable, or roster, which prescribes the dates on which vendors from individual villages in the province can attend the market. This system, which was introduced in 1996, is described in detail in the study of the Luganville market conducted by Greindl (1997: 134–135). Briefly, the timetable divides the Province into various zones, which are further broken down into village areas. Although named after only one village (which is generally the largest in the area), these village areas usually contain several villages This is corroborated by a survey of the Luganville market conducted between 1976 and 1978 which makes no mention of sellers from Malo (McGee et al. 1980). 93
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and hamlets. According to the timetable, groups of two to four village areas from each zone are scheduled to attend the market for any particular set of two consecutive market days. I was able to obtain the market timetable for Malo for the first half of 1997, but not for the second.
94
The former timetable divided Malo into two zones: East and West.
There were 15 village areas in East Malo and nine in West Malo. Vendors from village areas in East Malo were scheduled to attend one in every five markets (that is, for two market days in every 10); whilst vendors from village areas in West Malo were scheduled to attend one in every four markets. Market vendors from Malo set off early in the morning of the first day of a two day market. They travel by boat from Malo to Naonepan beach on the south coast of Santo (see Figure 2.5, Chapter Two) (which takes between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on weather conditions and the departure point on Malo), and then by four wheel drive ‘transport’ utility from Naonepan to town (which takes about 20 minutes). The landings used by the transport boats which ferry people and their cargo to and from Naonepan are located on the north and west coasts of Malo (see Figure 2.5, Chapter Two). Market vendors who do not live near a boat landing must hire a four wheel drive transport utility to take them to one. The vendors generally market their produce in small groups consisting of family and friends. Sometimes a group of vendors will charter a boat and depart Malo before sunrise in order to arrive at the market house in time to secure a good selling position. The majority of market vendors, however, travel to Naonepan on one of the ‘normal’ transport boats which ferry people and their luggage to Naonepan early every weekday morning. A normal trip on one of these boats costs 200 vatu, but for market vendors it usually costs 500 vatu due to their cargo of market produce. Most of the market traffic has passed through Naonepan by about nine o’clock in the morning.
95
I obtained the timetable for the first half of 1997 from the ‘Master’ of the market, a provincial government employee responsible for the day to day management the market. This timetable expired at the end of June for West Malo, and at the end of July for East Malo. I was unable to obtain a new timetable from either the Master of the market or the Provincial Government Office in Luganville. I discovered towards the end of my field work that market vendors from some of the village areas on Malo had had access to the new market timetable and had been conforming to it. Indeed, almost all traffic (which mainly consists of people who are going into town for the day) has passed through Naonepan by this time of the morning. The transport boat operators either return to Malo or moor their boats at Naonepan and go into town. There is generally very little activity on Naonepan during the middle of the day. The transport boats start ferrying people back to Malo at about three o’clock in the afternoon, and, on a busy day, will continue to do so until dusk. My observations of Naonepan and my market survey data (see main text below) suggest that Mondays are generally the busiest days; whilst Sundays, being the Sabbath for most of the Christian denominations on Malo, are the quietest. What little traffic there is on Sundays consists of Malo 94
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On the nights that the market operates (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), most of the vendors, including those from Malo, sleep at the market house and return to their villages in the afternoon of the following day. Women from Malo usually return from the market with some unsold market produce and with goods purchased in town, particularly imported foods such as rice and bread. The survey of the volume and diversity of marketed produce (and other food products) passing through Naonepan beach attempted to follow the routine of marketing activities described above. The survey, which was conducted once a week for 30 weeks, but which yielded only 27 weeks of useable data (the first three weeks of data had to be discarded), proceeded as follows. An assistant and myself would travel to Naonepan beach by transport boat as early as possible on the morning of the first day of a set of two consecutive market days. At Naonepan we would weigh marketed produce as it was being transferred into transport utilities for the trip to town and, time permitting, we would also collect basic information from the market vendors.
96
I would then return to Malo, whilst my assistant would proceed to the
market house where she would count and record the number of vendors from Malo in order to account for any vendors whom we may have ‘missed’ at Naonepan in the morning. Whilst at the market house, my assistant would also collect price per kilogram data for various products offered for sale.
She would then return to
Naonepan in the afternoon, and again in the morning of the following day, in order to record any movements of food products, which mostly consisted of imports to Malo of store-purchased food (in the afternoon) and exports from Malo of locallyproduced foods for non-commercial purposes (in the morning of the next day). Finally, she would return to Naonepan in the afternoon of the second day in order to record movements of food products, including unsold market produce returning to Malo. The Naonepan survey was conducted once a week for 30 weeks. In determining the days on which the survey would take place, I initially attempted to follow the official timetable to ensure that the various village areas on Malo were equally represented in the sample. However, when the timetable expired (at the end of July) and I was unable to obtain a copy of the new one, I adopted the following three week survey
people returning to town (for work) after spending the weekend on Malo. Although these people may take some locally-produced foods with them, the quantities involved are negligible, and for this reason, I decided not to include Sundays in the Naonepan survey. Most marketed produce from Malo is carried to the market in bags and baskets which are woven from coconut fronds. Products are sometimes also carried in plastic bags, cardboard boxes, and old rice and flour bags. Towards the end of the six month survey, enough bags and baskets had been weighed to be able to calculate the average weights of different sized bags and baskets for most of the 96
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pattern: Friday and Saturday in the first week; Monday and Tuesday in the second week; and Wednesday and Thursday in the third week. However, this pattern had to be changed after only two weeks due to an unforeseen event which caused us to miss a scheduled survey day. The new survey pattern, which was adopted on September 8th and remained unchanged for the rest of the survey period, was as follows: Monday and Tuesday in the first week; Friday and Saturday in the second week; and Wednesday and Thursday in the third week.
The vendors On the days on which the market survey was conducted a total of six men and 195 women from Malo sold produce at the Luganville market. These vendors’ villages of origin are listed in Table 5.5. It can be seen that most vendors were from villages on or near the west coast of the island.
97
This is probably due to the fact that vendors
from villages on East Malo, particularly on south-east Malo, must pay to have their produce transported, by four wheel drive utility, to a boat landing on the north or west coast of the island. This can cost up to 1000 vatu per woman for a one way trip. Table 5.5
Presences of vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997, by village of origin
Village
Number of presences
Nanuku
42
Avunatari
41
Avunaleleo
40
Avunarani
29
Avunubulu
25
Tanmial Amambelao Tastambae
19
Nawiambu Avunavai Avuvunarara
1
1
4
0
Total Note:
201 1
Based on a sample of 27 markets over a period of 27 weeks.
Thus, location and access to transport are important factors influencing the volume and frequency of marketing activities. The importance of these factors is emphasised
products marketed. This allowed us to go back through the raw data and fill in the gaps where for one reason or another we had not been able to weigh the produce at Naonepan. 109
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in the reports of both McGee et al. and Greindl.
The former authors link the
“considerable expansion” in the number of vendors attending the Luganville market, which occurred soon after its establishment in 1968, to the extension and improvement of the Santo road network, particularly in the north and east of the island. Furthermore, Greindl (1997: 135), after studying the number of “presences” at the market of vendors from throughout the province, concludes that it is vendors from villages which are close to roads, the coast or Luganville who are most frequently present at the market.
98
The average age of 17 women from Malo who were interviewed at the market house (and elsewhere) was 43 years, and they had an average of six children each.
99
The diversity of marketed products The Naonepan survey sampled 50 different marketed products, which are listed in Tables 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8. However, due to the seasonality of many of the products which are sold at the market, particularly fruits and nuts, these tables are by no means representative of the entire range of products which are marketed by vendors from Malo over the course of a full year. It is known, for example, that breadfruit, mangos and Pometia pinnata are marketed by vendors from Malo, however, these fruits were just coming into season at the end of the survey period (in December), and consequently they were not recorded in the sample. Furthermore, there are several products which are non-seasonal in nature, and which were known to have been marketed by vendors from Malo during the survey period, but which were not ‘picked up’ in the sample. These products include pigs, coconut crabs, flying foxes, chicken eggs, sea shells, and handicrafts such as wood carvings and pandanus fans and brushes. Greindl (1997: 138–140, Figures 27–29) provides exhaustive lists of the products sold at the Luganville market, and it seems likely that most of these products, with the important exceptions of kava and Colocasia taro, have been sold at some stage in the past by vendors from Malo.
100
With the exception of pandanus mats and baskets, handicrafts and fire wood, all of the products marketed by vendors from Malo are food products either cultivated,
This is supported by Greindl’s study, which also found Nanuku and Avunatari to be the most important villages on Malo in terms of the number of “presences” of vendors at the market (1997: 135). The importance of access and location are noted in numerous studies of fresh food markets (and marketing) from Melanesia and the Pacific in general (see for example Lasaqa [1968] and Bathgate [1993] on the Solomon Islands; and Brookfield [1969] on several Pacific markets). Greindl (1997: 143) collected census information from 25 market vendors (24 women and one man) originating from villages throughout SANMA Province. The average age of these vendors was 37 years, and they had an average of four children each. Malo is a net-importer of both kava and Colocasia taro. These crops do not grow very well on Malo, probably because of insufficient rainfall. 97
98
99
100
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Trade and Income
reared, fished or gathered on Malo. Mats, baskets and firewood, and also chickens and cooked fish, were recorded by quantity; whereas the other 45 products were recorded by weight. Consequently, the former products were not included in the estimate of the total volume, in kilograms, of marketed produce.
They were,
however, included in the estimate of the total value of marketed produce.
Table 5.6
Vegetables offered for sale by vendors from Malo market between June and December 1997 Scientific name Common English Bislama name name Abelmoschus manihot Island cabbage Aelan kabis Allium cepa var. Shallots Salad aggregatum Ananas comosus Pineapple Paenapol Brassica chinensis Chinese cabbage China kabis Brassica sp. White bone cabbage Waetbon Capsicum annuum Capsicum Kapsikam Capsicum frutescens Chilli Pima Carica papaya Paw paw Popo Cucumis sativus Cucumber Kukamba Curubita moschata Pumpkin Pamken Daucus carota Carrot Karot Dioscorea alata Greater yam Soft yam Dioscorea esculenta Lesser yam Vovile Dioscorea nummularia Yam Strong yam Dioscorea rotundata
Yam
Dioscorea trifida Dioscorea spp. Ipomea batatas Lactuca sativa Lagenaria siceraria Lycopersicon esculentum Manihot esculenta Nasturtium officinale Phaseolus vulgaris Sechium edule Trichosanthes cucumerina Vigna unguiculata Xanthosoma sagittifolium Zea mays Zingiber officinale
Yam Wild yam Sweet potato Lettuce Bottle gourd Tomato Cassava Water cress Common bean Choko Snake gourd Yard long bean New world taro Corn Ginger
Wailu, Martinik, Sixismanis Afrika Wael yam Kumala Salad Kalfas Tomat Maniok Wotakris Bin Susu Snekbin Yadbin Fiji taro Kon Ginga
at the Luganville Tamambo name Havera
Sowa
Dam vurohi Suru Dam buria; Marou Wailu, Martinik, Sixismanis Afrika Dam imasu Wasurusuru
Manioko
Joko
Bueta tamaute
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Table 5.7
Fruits offered for sale by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 Scientific name Common English Bislama name Tamambo name name Annona muriata
Soursop
Annona reticulata
Bullock’s heart
Barringtonia procera, B. novae-hiberniae and B. edulis
Soasop, Korosol
Vubaeho tamaute
Navele
Vuvale (for B. procera) and Vuhorota (for B. edulis) Vungaingai
Canarium indicum and C. harveyi
Canarium nut
Nungai
Carica papaya Citrus limon Citrus grandis Citrus reticulata Citrus sinensis Cocos nucifera
Paw paw Lemon Pomelo Mandarin Orange Green coconut
Popo Laman Pamplimus Mandarin Oranis Grin kokonas
Cocos nucifera
Dry coconut
Drae kokonas
Dracontomelon vitiense Inocarpus fagiferus
Nakatambol Polynesian chestnut Namambe
Vusowa Vumoli merika Vumoli Vuniu
Vuhatombola Vumambue
Psidium guajava Musa cvs.1
Gauva Ripe banana; green banana; cooking banana
Raep banana; grin banana; Lap-lap banana
Vetai
Spondias cytherea
Golden apple
Naus
Vuresi
Syzygium malaccense Malay apple
Nakavika
Vuhaviha
Terminalia catappa and T. samoensis
Natapoa
Vutavoa
Note:
Sea almond
Bananas are marketed in three different categories. People distinguish between ‘sweet’ banana, which can be eaten raw and is sold as either ‘green’ or ‘ripe’; and ‘cooking’ banana (lap-lap banana in Bislama), which must be cooked before eating. 1
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Table 5.8 Common
Trade and Income
Other products offered for sale by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 Bislama Tamambo
English name
name
name
Chicken
Faol
Toa
Cooked fish
Kuk fis
Baskets
Basket
Mats
Mat
Fire wood
Faea wud
The quantity of products marketed Because some vendors depart Malo very early in the morning of the first day of a two-day market, not all vendors were surveyed at Naonepan in the mornings of the survey days. Furthermore, on seven of the 27 sets of two survey days none of the vendors were ‘captured’ on Naonepan in the morning of the first day, meaning that no data concerning the composition and volume of marketed produce was obtained on these days. There were no vendors from Malo at the market on 1 and 2 August due to the close proximity in time to the National Independence celebrations. Of the 188 vendors who attended the market on the 20 sets of survey days which were used to calculate the diversity and volume of produce marketed, 100 were surveyed on Naonepan; whilst the other 88 were ‘missed’ on Naonepan, but were nevertheless recorded as present at the market house. Furthermore, 99 of the 188 vendors were surveyed at Naonepan on their return from the market. The latter survey involved weighing any unsold market produce which the vendors were taking back to Malo and also asking them to estimate the quantities of any unsold produce which they either gave away to friends and family residing in Luganville, or otherwise disposed of before returning to Malo. In light of the above, the following method was employed to calculate the volume of produce marketed. The total amount of each product weighed en route to town on the first day of a set of two market days was divided by the number of vendors who were ‘captured’ on Naonepan (to give an average quantity of each product marketed per woman on that day). This average was then multiplied by the total number of vendors from Malo who attended the market on that day (that is, both those vendors who were surveyed, and those who were missed at Naonepan). The same method was also used to estimate the quantity of unsold market produce which was taken
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back to Malo and also the quantity of unsold produce which was given away or discarded in Luganville. The number of vendors from Malo attending the market was found to decrease significantly during the course of a week. There were an average of 12 vendors attending the market on Mondays and Tuesdays, six on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and five on Fridays and Saturdays. To account for this variation, the daily totals described in the paragraph above were grouped by sets of consecutive market days (that is, Mondays/Tuesdays, Wednesdays/Thursdays and Fridays/Saturdays), and then averaged and multiplied by 27 to provide the figures listed in Table 5.9. Table 5.9
Quantity of products offered for sale, and actually sold, by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 (kg) Product Quantity Unsold Net Unsold Total Per marketed returned flow left on sold cent to Malo Santo sold 'Marou' 20,080 1,744 18,336 1,314 17,022 85 Green coconuts 16,897 2,089 14,808 957 13,851 82 Cooking banana 9,075 1,541 7,534 0 7,534 83 Ripe banana 8,274 1,293 6,981 1,157 5,824 70 'Nakatambol' 4,307 162 4,145 0 4,145 96 (Dracontomelon vitiense) Fiji taro 7,909 1,157 6,752 3,361 3,391 43 Cucumber 3,599 315 3,284 0 3,284 91 Wild yam 3,718 558 3,160 0 3,160 85 Greater yam 3,834 301 3,533 408 3,125 82 Pamplimus 4,343 806 3,537 428 3,109 72 Tomato 2,741 42 2,699 0 2,699 99 Paw paw 2,333 126 2,207 0 2,207 95 Orange 2,117 2 2,115 0 2,115 100 Pineapple 3,185 539 2,646 732 1,914 60 Pumpkin 2,277 449 1,828 130 1,698 75 Mandarin 1,567 1 1,566 0 1,566 100 Island cabbage 1,508 144 1,364 0 1,364 91 Dry coconuts 1,326 102 1,224 0 1,224 92 Green banana 1,882 336 1,546 451 1,095 58 White bone 1,155 72 1,083 0 1,083 94 cabbage 'Wailu' 764 98 666 0 666 87 (D. rotundata) Bottle gourd 7,479 6,769 710 78 632 9 Canarium nut 608 4 604 0 604 99 'Afrika' (D. trifida) 876 0 876 338 538 61 Soursop 534 59 475 0 475 89 Golden apple 488 15 473 0 473 97 Sweet potato 437 0 437 0 437 100 Snake gourd 399 71 328 0 328 82 Capsicum 324 0 324 0 324 100 114
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Malay apple Shallots Lemon Lesser yam Choko Polynesian chestnut Common bean 'Navele' (Barringtonia spp.) Corn Lettuce Chilli Water cress Ginger Carrotts Yard long bean Bullock's heart
Trade and Income
319 304 219 203 200 173
0 31 0 0 0 0
319 273 219 203 200 173
0 0 0 1 0 0
319 273 219 202 200 173
100 90 100 100 100 100
152 118
9 0
143 118
0 0
143 118
94 100
106 66 47 43 27 23 14 7
1 0 1 13 4 1 1 0
105 66 46 30 23 22 13 7
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
105 66 46 30 23 22 13 6
99 100 98 70 85 96 93 86
18,856 698 36,296
97,201 9,356 3,600 347 187,200 18,044
Total (27 weeks) 116,057 Average per week 4,298 Total per year 223,496
87,845 3,254 76 169,208
During the sample period a total of 116,057 kilograms of produce from Malo was offered for sale at the Luganville market, of which 87,845 kilograms, or 76 per cent was actually sold. Of the unsold produce, 18,856 kilograms, or 67 per cent was taken back to Malo; and 9,356 kilograms, or 33 per cent was either given away to family and friends living in town, or else discarded at the market house (Table 5.9). The quantity of the top 25 products sold at the market during the sample period is displayed in Figure 5.3.
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Figure 5.3
Trade and Income
Quantity of the top 25 products sold by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 (kg)
18000 16000 14000
Quantity
12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000
Soursop
Galip nut
'Afrika' (D. trifida)
Bottle gourd
White bone cabbage
Dry coconuts
Green bananas
Island cabbage
Pumpkin
Mandarin
Orange
'Wailu' (D. rotundata)
Product
Pineapple
Tomato
Paw paw
Pamplimus
Wild yam
Greater yam
Fiji taro
Cucumber
'Nakatambol'
Ripe bananas
Lap lap bananas
'Marou'
Green coconuts
0
It can be seen that marou yams, green coconut, and cooking and ripe banana were clearly the most important products marketed in terms of quantity sold. All four of these crops are either dominant or sub-dominant staple food crops on Malo. Indeed, of the 10 most important products marketed, six are significant food crops on Malo. The 27 week sample of marketing activities was long enough to illustrate the seasonality of many of the crops which were marketed. This is most clearly apparent in the case of marou yams, which started to appear in the sample at the beginning of September and peaked towards the end of the sample period in mid-December. The seasonality of ‘soft’ yams and some fruit crops such as oranges, nakatambol and pineapple is also reflected in the survey results. Furthermore, the results also demonstrate the importance of the non-seasonal crops, such as Fiji taro, green coconuts, ripe and cooking banana, and island cabbage, which form the ‘mainstay’ of the complex of marketed products. Due to their perennial nature, these crops provide a core or baseline of products which are always available to be marketed. 116
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Market prices and the value of products sold Price per kilogram data was obtained at the market house for as many of the marketed products as possible (Table 5.10).
101
For each product, 20 units of sale were
sampled for their weight and price (products are sold by units rather than by weight), and this data was used to calculate average prices per kilo. These averages represent ‘one-off’ estimates based on data gathered on single market days, and therefore do not account for any variation in price and/or quantity over time. Table 5.10 also includes price per kilogram estimates which were made by Greindl based on data collected almost exactly a year before my survey was conducted. Table 5.10
Average prices per kilogram of products offered for sale at the Luganville market Product Unit Average Range Average Average weight of (kg) price (vatu price (vatu unit (kg) per kg) per kg) Allen 1997 Greindl 1996 Guava Single fruit 0.1 0.1 - 0.2 178 Island cabbage Bundle 0.4 0.3 - 0.6 171 41 Common bean Bundle 0.4 0.3 - 0.4 138 Lettuce Bundle 0.9 0.8 - 1 111 147 Yard long bean Bundle 0.5 0.3 - 0.6 107 Capsicum Basket 1 0.7 - 1.9 100 130 Green banana Small bunch 1 0.5 - 2 99 54 Shallots Bundle 0.5 0.4 - 0.7 95 88 Pineapple Single fruit 0.8 0.6 - 1 93 Wild yam Bundle/ 6 1.2 - 10 86 Basket Water cress Bundle 0.6 0.3 - 0.9 86 Paw paw Single fruit 0.5 0.3 - 1 84 34 Fiji taro Basket 4.6 2 - 7.5 80 31 Lemon Plastic bag 1.4 1.2 - 2.2 72 66 Golden apple Single fruit 0.2 0.2 - 0.3 71 Bullock's heart Single fruit 0.4 0.2 - 0.5 70 Ginger Basket 2.8 1.5 - 4.5 66 62 Chilli* 66 ‘Marou’ Tuber cluster 11.1 4.5 - 25.5 64 Bottle gourd Single piece 1.5 0.3 - 6 63 ‘Wailu’ Basket 62 (D. rotundata)* Lesser yam* Basket 62 Carrot Bundle 1.4 0.7 - 3.3 58 Snake gourd Bundle 1.3 0.9 - 1.9 57 Ripe banana Small bunch 0.9 0.4 - 1.3 56 54 Orange* Single fruit 54 Mandarin* Single fruit 54 Nakatambol Bundle 1 0.8 - 1.1 52 Greater yam Basket 4.4 3 - 8.5 51 51 1
101
Most of this data was collected between August and December 1997. 117
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‘Afrika’ (D. trifida) Soursop Corn Colocasia taro Chinese cabbage Cooking banana Pomelo Fire wood Pumpkin Canarium nut ‘Navele’ (Barringtonia spp.)* Sweet potato Green coconuts Dry coconuts White bone cabbage Choko Tomato Cucumber Note:
Basket
8.2
5 - 12.5
48
Single fruit Bundle Bundle Bundle Large branch Single fruit Bundle Single fruit Bundle
1.3 2.8 12.1 1.2 11.5 0.6 6 3.6 3.7
0.8 - 2.2 2.5 - 3 9.5 - 13 0.3 - 1.7 10 - 14.5 0.5 - 0.8 3 - 9.5 1.5 - 8 2 - 4.5
47 45 42 40 36 35 32 27 27 27
Basket Single fruit Single fruit Bundle Single piece
11.1
9 - 13.5
20
Single piece
60 26 36
25 26 28 63 50 99 53
No data was obtained for the products marked with an asterisk. The average prices per kilo for these products were estimated according to the prices per kilo of similar products. 1
There is a reasonable amount of consistency between Greindl’s price per kilogram data and my own, although in some instances, my estimates are significantly higher. This could be due to the fact that 1997 was considerably drier (in terms of rainfall) than 1996, which may have affected the supply of some food crops. It is known, for example, that the supply of island cabbage was adversely affected by the dry weather in 1997 (particularly during the latter part of the year), and it seems likely that this would account for the large discrepancy in the price per kilogram figures between the two years. The pricing behaviour of vendors at the market in Luganville, and also at the market in Vila (see Brookfield [1969: 129–130] and McGee et al. [1980: 103–106]), exhibits characteristics which have been reported as common to markets in PNG (Epstein 1982), and in other parts of the Pacific (Brookfield 1969: 17–21). Most notably, there is a lack of overt competition between vendors, products are priced by unit rather than by weight (as mentioned above), there is considerable variation in the prices per kilogram of the products offered for sale, and vendors make no effort to reduce the prices of products left unsold towards the end of the day. These characteristics are noted in the reports of both McGee et al. (1980) and Greindl (1997).
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The price per kilogram data were multiplied by the estimates of the quantities of each product sold in order to derive estimates of the value of produce sold (see Table 5.11). Table 5.11
Value of products offered for sale, and actually sold, by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 Product Quantity Total Price Value of Value of Value of Value marketed sold per kilo produce produce produce of (kg) or per offered offered sold produce (kg) item for sale for sale (vatu) sold ($A) ($A) (vatu) (vatu) ‘Marou’ 20,080 17,022 64 1,285,120 15,120 1,089,408 12,817 † 16,897 13,851 26 439,322 5,169 360,126 4,237 Green coconuts Ripe banana 8,274 5,824 56 463,344 5,451 326,144 3,837 Wild yam 3,718 3,160 86 319,748 3,762 271,760 3,197 Fiji taro 7,909 3,391 80 632,720 7,444 271,280 3,192 Cooking banana 9,075 7,534 36 326,700 3,844 271,224 3,191 † 2,741 2,699 99 271,359 3,193 267,201 3,144 Tomato Island cabbage 1,508 1,364 171 257,868 3,034 233,244 2,744 Nakatambol 4,307 4,145 52 223,964 2,635 215,540 2,536 Paw paw 2,333 2,207 84 195,972 2,306 185,388 2,181 Pineapple 3,185 1,914 93 296,205 3,485 178,002 2,094 3,599 3,284 53 190,747 2,244 174,052 2,048 Cucumber† Greater yam 3,834 3,125 51 195,534 2,300 159,375 1,875 Chickens 226 225 600 135,600 1,595 135,000 1,588 Orange 2,117 2,115 54 114,318 1,345 114,210 1,344 Pomelo 4,343 3,109 35 152,005 1,788 108,815 1,280 Green banana 1,882 1,095 99 186,318 2,192 108,405 1,275 Mats* 199 156 650 129,350 1,522 101,400 1,193 Mandarin 1,567 1,566 54 84,618 996 84,564 995 White bone 1,155 1,083 63 72,765 856 68,229 803 cabbage† Cooked fish* 774 774 75 58,050 683 58,050 683 Pumpkin 2,277 1,698 27 61,479 723 45,846 539 ‘Wailu’ 764 666 62 47,368 557 41,292 486 (D. rotundata) Bottle gourd 7,479 632 63 471,177 5,543 39,816 468 1,326 1,224 28 37,128 437 34,272 403 Dry coconuts† Golden apple 488 473 71 34,648 408 33,583 395 Capsicum 324 324 100 32,400 381 32,400 381 Shallots 304 273 95 28,880 340 25,935 305 ‘Afrika’ 876 538 48 42,048 495 25,824 304 (D. trifida) Soursop 534 475 47 25,098 295 22,325 263 Fire wood* 104 104 200 20,800 245 20,800 245 Common bean 152 143 138 20,976 247 19,734 232 Snake gourd 399 328 57 22,743 268 18,696 220 Canarium nut 608 604 27 16,416 193 16,308 192 Baskets* 111 81 200 22,200 261 16,200 191 Malay apple 319 319 50 15,950 188 15,950 188 Lemon 219 219 72 15,768 186 15,768 186 1
2
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Lesser yam Choko† Polynesian chestnut Sweet potato Lettuce Corn Navele (Barringtonia spp.) Chilli Water cress Ginger Yard long bean Carrotts Bullock's heart
203 200 173
203 200 173
62 50 52
12,586 10,000 8,996
148 118 106
12,586 10,000 8,996
148 118 106
437 66 106 118
437 66 105 118
20 111 45 27
8,740 7,326 4,770 3,186
103 86 56 38
8,740 7,326 4,725 3,186
103 86 56 38
47 43 27 14 23 7
46 30 23 13 22 7
66 86 66 107 58 70
3,102 3,698 1,782 1,498 1,334 490
37 44 21 18 16 6
3,036 2,580 1,518 1,391 1,276 490
36 30 18 16 15 6
Total (27 weeks) Average per week Total per year Notes:
7,014,214 82,528 259,786 3,057
5,272,016 195,260
62,028 2,297
13,508,857 158,943
10,153,512
119,461
Quantity is given in kilograms, except for the products marked with an asterisk, which are listed in numeric quantity. 1
For most products I have used my own price per kilogram estimates. However for some products I have had to use Greindl’s 1996 estimates. The latter products are marked with a † symbol. 2
The overall value of produce offered for sale by vendors from Malo during the sample period was 7,014,214 vatu (approximately $A82,528), and the value of produce actually sold was 5,272,016 vatu (approximately $A62,028). Thus, 75 per cent of the total value of produce offered for sale by vendors from Malo was actually sold.
102
The value of produce actually sold was equivalent to about 8490 vatu per
vendor per market trip.
103
The value of the top 25 products sold during the sample period is demonstrated graphically in Figure 5.4. It can be seen that marou yams were clearly the most important product marketed in terms of value, accounting for approximately 21 per
McGee et al., in their 1976 surveys of the Luganville and Vila markets found that, at the former market, only 50 per cent of the produce offered for sale was actually sold; whilst at the latter market, approximately 70 per cent of the produce offered for sale was sold (1980: 234–235, Table 6.7; 214–215, Table 5.7). Thus it would appear that over the past 20 years or so there has been a marked increase in the percentage of marketed produce which is actually sold at the Luganville market. One of the questions asked of the 17 vendors from Malo who were interviewed at the market house was how much money they had made on their last trip to the market. The figures cited ranged from between 1500 and 50,000 vatu. The latter amount, which is extraordinarily large, was earned by a woman who was apparently the first vendor to offer pineapples for sale at the market in 1997 and consequently sold them for a handsome profit. However, if this figure is excluded from the sample then the upper limit of the sample range becomes 12,000 vatu, and the average income earned per vendor is 7000 vatu, which is reasonably close to the estimate of 8490 given in the text above. 102
103
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cent of the total value of products sold.
Trade and Income
104
Furthermore, the six most important
marketed products in terms of value (which were, in order of importance: marou yams, green coconut, ripe banana, ‘wild’ yams, Fiji taro and cooking banana) are all significant food crops on Malo.
The extraordinary contribution made by marou yams to the total value of products marketed by vendors from Malo is due to two main factors. Firstly, these yams are cultivated only on Malo, and are consequently sold exclusively by vendors from Malo. Informants from islands throughout Vanuatu claimed that marou yams can only be grown on Malo, and that attempts to grow them on other islands have been unsuccessful. Secondly, marou yams are extremely popular with ni-Vanuatu consumers, apparently because of their superior taste and their long dormancy period. Indeed, the demand for these yams is so strong that each year a handful people from Malo ship several hundred of them to be sold at the market in Vila (at prices which are considerably higher than those offered at the Luganville market). One such woman was encountered during the Naonepan survey. She was taking about 100 marou yams to Luganville, from where she was intending to ship them for sale at the Vila market. 104
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Figure 5.4
Trade and Income
Value of the top 25 products sold by vendors from Malo at the Luganville market between June and December 1997 (vatu)
1200000
1000000
Value
800000
600000
400000
200000
Bottle gourd
Dry coconuts
'Wailu' (D. rotundata)
Pumpkin
Cooked fish
Mandarin
White bone cabbage
Mats
Green bananas
Pomelo
Orange
Chickens
Cucumber
Greater Yam
Pineapple
Paw paw
'Nakatambol'
Tomato
Island cabbage
Fiji taro
Lap lap bananas
Wild yam
Ripe bananas
Green coconuts
'Marou'
0
Product
McGee et al. (1980: 138), following Brookfield (1969: 122–123), grouped the products offered for sale at the Luganville market into the following categories: “native staple foods”, “other native foods”, “animal produce”, “cooked food”, “fruit”, and “vegetables”. They found that the most significant category, in terms of the value of produce sold, was “native staple foods”. The products in this category included Fiji and Colocasia taro, coconuts, cassava, sugarcane, sweet potato and yams.
These
accounted for approximately 50 per cent of the total value of products offered for sale, and approximately 45 per cent of the total value of produce actually sold. These results corroborate my own findings that local staple foods are the most important marketed products, in terms of both quantity and value.
105
Other sources of income on Malo As mentioned previously, estimates of income have only been made for the three most important sources of income on Malo: copra, cocoa and the sale of products at
McGee et al. categorised banana as “fruit” whereas I have regarded them as “native staple food” due to their importance on Malo, particularly on East Malo. However, categories aside, both myself and 105
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the market in Luganville. In the absence of any 'hard' data concerning the other sources of income on Malo, they are instead briefly described below.
Wages It is important to distinguish between wages which are paid from sources on Malo, and those which are paid from sources external to the island. The former type of wages, such as those paid to plantation workers, are, in most cases, actually redistributions of income from the three sources which have already been accounted for, particularly from copra. Wages which are paid from sources external to Malo, on the other hand, represent income which is independent from, and additional to, the sources which have already been considered. There are only a small number of people on Malo who are recipients of wages paid from sources which are external to the island.
Included in this group are an
unknown (but small) number of primary and secondary school teachers; two nurses, one at Avuanatari and one at Ataripoi; one DAH field assistant; two official VCMB purchasing agents; two Provincial Government employees (who are referred to as 'Area Secretaries'); and finally, two Members of Parliament (one Provincial and one National).
Remittances Remittances have been an aspect of the ‘modern’, as opposed to the ‘traditional’, economies of many of the islands of Vanuatu. This is related to the pattern of ‘circular migration’ described by Bedford (1973a, 1973b) whereby young people, particularly young men, leave their islands to go and work in town, or even overseas, as unskilled or semi-skilled labourers; but always eventually return to their home islands, usually after only a few years.
106
Consequently, many rural families in
Vanuatu have family members who are working in town or overseas and who are sending back goods and remittances on a regular basis. The general (but entirely understandable) reluctance on the part of informants to discuss the specifics of their personal wealth and income made it very difficult to obtain reliable information concerning remittances. Six of the 25 ‘study’ households on Malo have family members working in Luganville, Port Vila or elsewhere in the archipelago, who send money, food, and other goods back to Malo on a regular basis. However, in most cases I was unable to elicit from informants the precise amounts of
McGee et al. found banana to be amongst the five most important marketed products in terms of value. Evidence suggests that these movements are becoming increasingly permanent in nature (Bonnemaison 1985; Haberkorn 1985, 1989). 106
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money involved. The contribution of remittances to the monetary economy of Malo is, nevertheless, thought to be relatively insignificant.
Minor cash crops and other minor sources of income As is the situation with wages, it is important to distinguish minor cash crops which are sold on Malo, from those which are exported from the island.
The most
important crop in the former category is kava. Kava is best cultivated in areas with high rainfall, and consequently it does not grow particularly well on Malo. For this reason, kava has not become an important cash crop on Malo, as it has in other areas of Vanuatu, such as on Pentecost and in parts of Santo. The small amount of kava that is grown on Malo is sold to local kava bar operators, rather than exported for sale in Luganville. The minor cash crops which are exported from Malo are vanilla, pepper and chilli, which are sold to the VENUI company in south Santo and to the Farmer Support Association (FSA) in Luganville; canarium nuts (Canarium spp.) which are sold to 107
Pacific Nuts Ltd; and to a much lesser extent, the fruits of the tree Calophyllum 108
inophyllum (which is known as nambakura in Bislama), which are sold to Chinese businessmen in Luganville. Other very minor sources of ‘external’ income on Malo include the sale of lobsters, fish and other seafoods directly to Chinese purchasers in Luganville; and the sale of timber to a small Australian logging company.
The VENUI company and the FSA appear to be the only organisations which were purchasing these crops in 1997; and they evidently had an agreement to offer the same purchasing prices, including, in the case of some of the crops in question, discounted prices for members of the FSA. The purchasing prices offered by these organisations are listed in Table 5.12. This company, which is based in Luganville, purchases canarium nuts from areas in Santo, Malo and Malekula; and commenced purchasing nuts from Malo in mid-1997. The Naonepan beach survey recorded canarium nuts which were being exported for sale both at the Luganville market and to Pacific Nuts Ltd. According to the survey results, approximately 224 kilograms of canarium nuts from Malo were sold to Pacific Nuts Ltd between June and December, with a value of about 6720 vatu (approximately $A80). The survey period more or less coincided with the fruiting season of canarium nuts. 107
108
124
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Trade and Income
Table 5.12
Prices paid for vanilla, chilli, black and white pepper (by the VENUI company and the Farmer Support Association [FSA]) and canarium nuts (by Pacific Nuts Ltd), current at December 1997
Product
Purchasor
Dry Vanilla
VENUI
4000 - 6000
Fresh Vanilla: 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade Dry Chilli
VENUI
Fresh Chilli
VENUI
Black Pepper
VENUI and FSA
White Pepper
VENUI and FSA
Canarium nut
Pacific Nuts Ltd
900 700 300 Members: 350 Non-members: 300 Members: 40 Non-members: 35 Members: 350 Non-members: 300 Members: 410–500 Non-members: 300–400 30
Notes:
VENUI and FSA
Price (vatu per kg)
2
The VENUI purchasing office is located on South Santo; whilst the FSA and Pacific Nuts Ltd purchasing offices are in Luganville. 1
2
M O VIN G
1
‘Members’ and ‘Non-members’ refers to membership of the FSA.
FO O D
This chapter has thus far examined the various sources of income of Malo. It has been seen that copra is the main source of income, whilst cocoa and the sale of fresh foods at the Luganville market are important secondary sources of income. The remainder of the chapter investigates the movement of food to and from Malo based on quantitative data collected at Naonepan beach and qualitative observations of the overall food distribution system. Data concerning the net-flow of local food to and from the Luganville market has already been presented and this will be compared with data concerning the import and export of local food intended for noncommercial purposes.
Finally, data concerning the import to Malo of store-
purchased foods such as rice and flour will be presented. All of this information is synthesised in the next chapter, in order that the overall food supply situation on Malo can be described and discussed.
Local food It has already been seen that in 1997 the difference between the quantity of local food which was exported from Malo for the purposes of sale at the Luganville market and 125
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Trade and Income
the quantity of that food which was unsold and was returned to Malo (that is, the ‘net-flow’) was approximately 187 tonnes.
However, in addition to this, the
Naonepan beach survey also captured the quantities of flows of local foods which were destined or intended for non-commercial purposes. The Naonepan survey recorded 54 individuals who were exporting local food from Malo for non-commercial purposes. Most of this food was being taken to family members who live in Luganville, including children at boarding school and people in hospital. A small amount of food was destined for weddings on Santo or elsewhere in the archipelago. A further 69 individuals were recorded importing local food. However, 27 of those 69 individuals were importing kava, which is technically a commercial import because in most cases it is sold in one of the many kava bars on the island. Of the remaining 42 individuals, 39 were recorded as importing local food for their own (and their families’) consumption and one was recorded as importing food for a wedding. (The purpose of the two remaining imports is unknown). Interestingly, two of the individuals recorded as importing food for their own consumption were in fact returning with the food from gardens which they maintain on south Santo.
109
The net-flow of local food products for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, to and from Malo, is demonstrated in Table 5.13.
An elderly informant recalled that it was formerly quite common for people from Malo to make food gardens on south Santo. Apparently trips to the gardens doubled as man-hunting expeditions. People would travel in armed groups and any strangers who were encountered became, in the words of my informant, “meat to eat with your yams”! This story is supported by the fact that some people from Malo are now involved in a land dispute over a large tract of land on south Santo. It is unclear if the people sampled on Naonepan were gardening on land belonging to themselves or to others. 109
126
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Trade and Income
Table 5.13
Estimates of the flow of marketed and non-marketed local food products, to and from Malo, between June and December 1997 (kg) Net flow of Net flow of non- Net flow of local marketed local marketed local food products food products food products 1
Product
'Marou' Green coconuts Ripe banana Cooking banana Fiji taro Pomelo Greater yam 'Nakatambol' (Dracontomelon vitiense)
-18,336 -14,808 -6,981 -7,534 -6,752 -3,538 -3,533 -4,145
-3,032 -144 -359 563 -57 -956 -724 -69
-21,368 -14,952 -7,340 -6,971 -6,809 -4,494 -4,257 -4,214
Wild yam Cucumber Pineapple Tomato Paw paw Pumpkin Orange Green banana Island cabbage Mandarin 'Wailu' (D. rotundata)
-3,160 -3,284 -2,646 -2,699 -2,207 -1,828 -2,115 -1,546 -1,364 -1,566 -666
-234 -9 -129 0 -49 -411 -33 -240 -227 0 -714
-3,394 -3,293 -2,775 -2,699 -2,256 -2,239 -2,148 -1,786 -1,591 -1,566 -1,380
Canarium nut Dry coconuts White bone cabbage
-604 -1,224 -1,084
-672 -5 24
-1,276 -1,229 -1,060
'Afrika' (D. trifida) Bottle gourd Golden apple Soursop Sweet potato Snake gourd Capsicum Malay apple Shallots Lesser yam Lemon Choko Polynesian chestnut
-876
0
-876
-710 -473 -475 -437 -328 -324 -319 -274 -203 -219 -200 -173
-9 -48 0 47 0 0 0 0 -56 0 0 -18
-719 -521 -475 -390 -328 -324 -319 -274 -259 -219 -200 -191
-143 -118
0 -15
-143 -133
Common bean 'Navele' (Barringtonia spp.)
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Trade and Income
Corn Breadfruit Chilli Water cress Lettuce Ginger Carrotts Yard long bean Bullock's heart Kava Colocasia taro
Total (27 weeks) Total per year
Note:
-105 0 -47 -43 -66 -27 -23 -14 -7 0 0
0 -81 0 0 36 0 0 0 0 3,078 3,480
-105 -81 -47 -43 -30 -27 -23 -14 -7 3,078 3,480
-97,224
-1,063
-98,287
-187,246
-2,047
-189,283
The negative values represent net-exports from Malo; whilst the positive values represent net-imports to the island. 1
Three important points arise from these results. Firstly, with regard to movements of local food for non-commercial purposes, Malo is a net-exporter of everything except Colocasia taro, kava, cooking banana, and to a lesser extent, sweet potato, lettuce and white bone cabbage. Secondly, the estimated net-export in 1997 of local foods for non-commercial purposes (of about two tonnes) is insignificant in comparison to the equivalent estimate for marketed food products (of about 187 tonnes). Finally, the overall situation with regard to the movement of local foods for both commercial and non-commercial purposes is that Malo is a net-exporter of everything except for Colocasia taro and kava (see Figure 5.5). Moreover, as one would expect given the relative insignificance of movements of a non-commercial nature, the results more or less follow the results of the Luganville market survey discussed above. This data is revisited in the next chapter where it is used to refine the subsistence agricultural production estimates made in the previous chapter.
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Chapter Five
Figure 5.5
Trade and Income
Net flow of local food products to and from Malo between June and December 1997 (showing the top 25 net-exports) (kg)
5000
0
Quantity
-5000
-10000
-15000
-20000
Kava
Colocasia esculenta
Bottle gourd
Golden apple
'Afrika' (D. trifida)
White bone cabbage
Galip nut
Dry coconuts
Mandarin
'Wailu' (D. rotundata)
Island cabbage
Orange
Product
Green bananas
Pumpkin
Paw paw
Tomato
Pineapple
Wild yam
Cucumber
'Nakatambol'
Pomelo
Greater yam
Fiji taro
Lap lap bananas
Ripe bananas
'Marou'
Green coconuts
-25000
Store-purchased food imports Malo is a significant importer of store-purchased foods (Table 5.14). The Naonepan survey recorded 26 separate store-purchased food and beverage products which were imported to Malo during the sample period. Over the course of the full year, these products amounted to an estimated 200 tonnes, with a value of approximately 30 million vatu ($A345,209). This equates to approximately $A100 per person per year, which means that about one third of average per capita income is spent on imported food. Of these products, rice, flour, sugar, tinned fish and meat, salt, bread, cooking oil, wine and biscuits were the most significant (Figure 5.6). Rice alone accounted for about 65 per cent of the total quantity of store-purchased foods imported in 1997. In a nutritional sense, these foods are equivalent to about 534 kilocalories per person per day (Table 5.14).
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Trade and Income
Table 5.14 Estimates of the quantity, value and energy content of store purchased food products imported to Malo in 1997 (based on an extrapolation of data collected on Naonepan beach between June and December 1997) Product Quantity Price (vatu per Value imported Energy content imported per per year (vatu) (kilocalories) kg) per person per year (kg) day Rice 123,948 105 13,014,540 360 Flour 27,106 100 2,710,600 80 Sugar 17,591 125 2,198,875 49 Tinned fish 4,789 482 2,308,298 6 2
1
Tinned meat
3,944
730
2,879,120
8
Salt Bread Cooking oil
3,599 2,848 2,504
128 180 594
460,672 512,640 1,487,376
0 7 18
Wine Biscuits Beer Soft drink
1,659 1,596 595 438
750 564 758 260
1,244,250 900,144 451,010 113,880
1 5 0.2 0.1
Fruit cordial
275
263
72,325
0.1
Butter and Margarine
232
547
126,904
1.3
Soy sauce
177
339
60,003
0.2
Powdered milk
123
1,056
129,888
0.5
Frozen chicken
86
2,000
172,000
0.2
Potato chips ('Twisties')
83
1,625
134,875
0.3
Lollies Peanut butter
83 70
250 1,153
20,750 80,710
0.2 0.3
Instant noodles
66
700
46,200
0.1
'Milo' Baby formula powdered milk ('Lactogen')
55 40
1,363 1,500
74,965 60,000
0.2 0
Cheese Tea Fresh beef
22 18 13
500 4,000 250
11,000 72,000 3,250
0.1 0 0
29,346,275 (Approx $A 345,250)
537.8
Total
191,960
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Chapter Five
Notes:
Trade and Income
66 per cent of products were imported by people who operate stores on Malo; whilst the remaining 34 per cent were imported by private residents. 1
These figures were based on price data obtained from the cooperative stores at Avunatari and Nanuku, and therefore represent the prices per kilo paid by people on Malo. 2
Estimates of the quantity of store-purchased food products imported to Malo in 1997 (top 22 imports only)
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
'Milo'
Instant noodles
Peanut Butter
Lollies
Potato Chips ('Twisties')
Frozen Chicken
Powdered milk
Soy Sauce
Butter and Margarine
Soft Drink
Fruit Cordial
Beer
Biscuits
Wine
Cooking oil
Salt
Bread
Tinned Meat
Tinned Fish
Sugar
Flour
0 Rice
Quantity(kg)
Figure 5.6
Product
131
Chapter Five
Trade and Income
The distribution of store-purchased foods All of the store-purchased foods imported to Malo are originally purchased from the Chinese-owned wholesale and retail trading stores which line the main street of Luganville. These stores are described in more depth in the studies of McGee et al. (1980) and Greindl (1997). According to my estimates, approximately 66 per cent of the store-purchased foods imported to Malo in 1997 were imported by people who operate stores on Malo; whilst the remaining 34 per cent were imported by private residents. Thus, the majority of store-purchased foods imported to Malo are being distributed through the island’s numerous cooperative and private stores. In the case of flour, a further distribution is occurring whereby licensed bakers purchase flour from local stores on Malo and then sell their bread and doughnuts either from their own homes, or on consignment at stores and kava bars.
C O N CLUSIO N This chapter has demonstrated that Malo has a thriving cash economy which is almost entirely based upon trade with Luganville. Per capita cash incomes on Malo are high in comparison to other rural areas in Vanuatu and although copra is still the dominant source of income on the island, the economy has diversified significantly over the past 30 years or so. This diversification has been marked by the adoption of cocoa as a cash crop in the 1970s; the commencement of fresh food marketing in the 1980s; and the more recent adoption of the minor cash crops vanilla, pepper and chilli. It has been argued that the distribution of income on Malo is somewhat uneven and is related to the distribution of both smallholder and formerly European-owned coconut plantation land. This inequality favours men over women and residents of East Malo over residents of West Malo. It also favours some men over others, and this has seen the emergence of a new group of entrepreneurs on the island. These are men who have been able to successfully manage and exploit various aspects of both kastom (particularly the system of customary land tenure) and modernity. The new big men (and to a lesser extent the cooperative societies) play a central and essential role in the Malo economy. They own and operate the transport (boats and vehicles) and capital equipment (copra dryers and cocoa fermentaries) upon which all economic activity on Malo depends.
They also oversee the importation,
distribution and sale of a range of products including a significant amount of imported food. Thus, although these men may earn a disproportionate amount of the total cash income generated on Malo, their activities as traders and transport 132
Chapter Five
Trade and Income
operators make it possible for everyone on the island to participate (produce and consume) in the cash economy.
133
Chapter Six
Food Security and Sustainability
C HAPTER S IX : F OOD S ECURITY A ND S USTAINABILITY The purpose of this chapter is to use the information presented in the previous chapters to address the three questions which were raised at the beginning of the thesis: •
What is the food supply system on Malo?
•
How adequate is it?
•
How adequate (or sustainable) is the broader resource exploitation system which underpins it?
The quantitative data presented in Chapters Four and Five can be combined to provide a powerful ‘snapshot’ of life on Malo, particularly with regard to food supply and resource exploitation.
This snapshot answers the first of the three
questions posed above, at least as far as the question pertains to the situation on the island in 1997. The second question is concerned with the adequacy of the food supply system on Malo in terms of food security. This will be investigated by subjecting the system to various worst case scenarios and to the arguments of the food dependency theorists. This analysis will demonstrate the system to be robust, and certainly superior to the food supply system which, to the best of our knowledge, existed on the island prior to its sustained contact with Europeans. The broader implication here is that the consumption of imported foods and the concomitant redirection of resources from subsistence to cash production is not necessarily as bad as we are sometimes led to believe, at least in terms of food security. The final question is far more problematic in the sense that there is no simple and definitive answer. The question requires us to make statements about sustainability and as such we must enter into the murky waters of prediction.
The most
appropriate way to navigate these waters is to draw upon our knowledge of the past to seek to understand how and why the resource exploitation and food supply systems on Malo have developed in the ways that they have. We may then hope to understand how they may develop in the future. It will be argued that where the precise causes of change are elusive, the genesis of change itself is not. The historical changes to the systems in question have been generated by people who have a proven ability to adapt and innovate in response to perceived pressures and opportunities. Given that there is still plenty of room for innovations to be adopted 134
Chapter Six
Food Security and Sustainability
within both subsistence and cash cropping systems, it seems likely that the people of Malo will ensure that their agriculture and land use remain sustainable at least for the foreseeable future.
THE
FO O D SUPPLY SITUA TIO N O N
M ALO
IN
1997
The quantitative data presented in Chapters Four and Five can be combined to develop an overall picture of the food supply system on Malo in 1997. Recall that in Chapter Four estimates were made of the production of the main subsistence staple crops for both East and West Malo. By extrapolating this information to an islandwide level, it can be combined with the food import and export data presented in Chapter Five, with the objective of addressing the following key questions: What proportion of subsistence production is exported from the island for commercial and non-commercial purposes respectively?
What proportions of daily energy
requirements are derived from subsistence production, from imported local foods, and from imported store-purchased foods? The final staple crop production estimates made in Chapter Four were given as netproduction (that is, taking account of planting material and edible portions) per person per year, for each of the two agricultural systems: East and West Malo (see Table 4.9). These estimates were made for four species of yam (including marou), Fiji taro and banana. This data can be multiplied by the estimated 1997 populations of each agricultural system (see Figure 2.7) to derive total production figures for each crop in each agricultural system, and also for Malo as a whole (Table 6.1). It can be seen that, in 1997, an estimated 2890 tonnes of staple food crops were produced on the island.
135
