Climate change, food security and health in Kiribati: a narrative review of the literature

ABSTRACT

Background: Climate change is recognised as having a ‘multiplier effect’ on food insecurity and adverse health experiences of communities in the Pacific region. Islands are especially at risk due to their limited land availability, population pressures and, in the case of atolls, their low-lying topography making them vulnerable to sea level rise.

Aim: This review examines the literature describing the relationship between climate change, food security and health in Kiribati.

Method: A narrative review was conducted, looking at both peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature available online from 1 January 2008 to 14 August 2018, the search date. Sources from three databases of peer-reviewed literature, Google and additional sources from reference lists were included in the review.

Results: Thirty-seven items were included in this review. These show climate change is having a noticeable impact on food security and health in Kiribati. Four themes were identified from the literature that provide different perspectives to the problem outlined.

Conclusion: Climate change is a pressing concern for the government of Kiribati and communities alike, and yet the problem is worsening, not improving. Further research is required to look at effective policies and cultural perspectives to address this problem.

KEYWORDS:

• Pacific
• climate change
• food security
• health
• Kiribati

Responsible Editor Peter Byass, Umeå University, Sweden

Responsible Editor Peter Byass, Umeå University, Sweden

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Stefano Moncada for his advice in the course of writing this academic paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics and consent

As this study is based on secondary data, consent procedures were not required. Ethics approval for the research project, of which this study forms one component, was obtained from the Queensland University of Technology, where the first author is registered for a PhD.

Paper context

Climate change is recognised as having a ‘multiplier effect’ on food insecurity and adverse health experiences of communities in the Pacific region. Islands are especially at risk due to their limited land availability, population pressures and, in the case of atolls, their low-lying topography making them vulnerable to sea level rise. Kiribati is considered a ‘textbook case’ for climate change studies due to its high vulnerability to climate impacts.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was required for this research.

Notes on contributors

John P. Cauchi

J.P.C., I.C.V. and H.B. conceived of the presented idea. J.P.C. performed the literature search and collated and analysed the data. I.C.V. and H.B. supervised and guided the analysis process. J.P.C. wrote the manuscript with support from I.C.V. and H.B. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.