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Aid and remittances have long defined the economies of Pacific Island 'micro states' as part of the MIRAB approach to development. However, these sources of support now face an uncertain future. While recognizing that atoll nations, such as Kiribati, are constrained in terms of their agricultural potential, particularly on urban South Tarawa, there is still room for improvement of both traditional and exotic crop production to help reverse the trend of increasing imported food dependency and the rising incidence of nutritionally related non-communicable diseases. By contrast, the inshore fisheries sector currently satisfies both subsistence and local commercial needs. This paper examines extant agricultural and nearshore fisheries activities on South Tarawa and analyzes the impact on health and nutrition and on the environment.
KEY WORDs: Kiribati, South Tarawa, MIRAB, agriculture, fisheries
'Micro states', such as the Republic of Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands) in the central Pacific, present unique challenges to development planners. Size alone need not be a serious impediment to economic growth, as illustrated by Singapore's financial success over the years, as well as other small nations that have achieved a relatively high standard of living. Pacific Island 'micro states', however, are not only constrained by limited size, but also by a host of other environmental and geographical factors. Perhaps relatively isolated and resource-poor atoll countries and territories (Baaro 1993) best illustrate these limitations. For the politically independent states of Kiribati and neighbouring Tuvalu, for instance, external assistance does not match the amounts given to dependencies such as French Polynesia or even the US-affiliated states in Micronesia, including the atolls comprising the Marshall Islands.
With few opportunities for economic expansion in view of their restricted size and natural resource availability, small labour force and low GDP and thus restricted market size, small island nations have had the option to look outward by embracing the MIRAB approach to economic development by relying on Migration (of factors of production), Remittances/Aid (financial transfers) and Bureaucracy (non-tradable production) (Bertram and Watters 1985). The MIRAB model of economic development highlights the importance and, as some would argue, the necessity, of such an approach to ensure the levels of expenditure are sustained. As Bertram (1999, 345) succinctly put it: `In a MIRAB economy the indigenous population maximize their material...