The Pacific islands have made progress in improving agriculture and enhancing nutrition under a new localized IAEA approach to using nuclear science to address development challenges.
The IAEA technical cooperation programme has been implementing a Sub-regional Approach to the Pacific Islands (SAPI) over the last two years, focusing on areas where nuclear science and technology is likely to have a competitive advantage in comparison with other techniques, and where its application can result in tangible development impacts.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are recognized as a distinct group of developing countries by the United Nations, with shared challenges. Pacific islands face several development obstacles in common, including vulnerability to specific risks from climate change. Impacts such as ocean acidification, rising sea levels and reduced crop productivity place a heavy burden on already fragile economies. South-South cooperation allows countries to work together to tackle these challenges more effectively. The IAEA's SAPI approach supports such sub-regional collaboration, building on available national resources for the benefit of all.
"The Sub-regional Approach to the Pacific Islands has been delivered through a set of sub-regional projects, which have served as an important complementary mechanism for greater effectiveness of their national programmes. By jointly utilizing national facilities such as, for example, research institutions or universities, Pacific islands are building their resilience as a sub-region," explained Javier Romero, IAEA Project Management Officer.
Through its technical cooperation programme, the IAEA supports seven Pacific SIDS in a broad range of areas, including food and agriculture and health and nutrition, among others. For SIDS in the Pacific Ocean, risks such as extreme weather and seawater intrusion, together with long transportation times for goods, present challenges to food production and availability.
To learn how to use nuclear technology to develop new crop varieties that are better suited to changing climate conditions, Vanuatuan researchers attended a regional training course in 2019 at the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. The scientists gained hands-on experience in all aspects of mutation breeding, from initial detection and testing to DNA extraction and quality control.
"The contribution of new technologies, such as mutagenesis using gamma rays, holds large potential for SIDS," said Juliane Kaoh, Head of Horticultural Perennial Crops at Biosecurity Vanuatu. "It was a laborious, expensive and time-consuming process, but thanks to the IAEA support we managed to do it for sweet potato and the irradiated plants are under investigation in the Vanuatu Agricultural Research and Technical Centre," concluded Kaoh.
A further plant breeding training course for SIDS was held in 2022 at the Pacific Community's Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees in Fiji. Participants from Fiji, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu built their skills in techniques for mutation breeding and in methods for screening biotic and abiotic stress in crops.
Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi views the progress of ongoing plant breeding projects at the Pacific Community's Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees in Fiji. (Photo: D. Candano/IAEA)
The Pacific Community's Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees in Fiji already plays an important role as a leading institution among Pacific islands for plant breeding. The IAEA is now supporting Fiji National University to become a sub-regional hub for nutrition programmes through capacity building and the provision of equipment.
In April 2024, Fiji National University was already able to host participants from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga for an IAEA-sponsored nutrition training course using nuclear techniques. The participants completed hands-on training in the isotopic technique of deuterium dilution to assess body composition. Being able to monitor body composition accurately is important for the Pacific islands, because altered body composition is a risk factor for developing non-communicable diseases, which are now the leading cause of death in most countries in the Pacific.
Through their participation in the IAEA's technical cooperation programme, Pacific island countries are together taking concrete steps to enhance resilience and address priority development challenges using nuclear science and technology.
