Chapter 3
Religious and Cultural-Spiritual
Attributions of Climate-Driven Changes
on Food Production: A Case Study
from North Malaita, Solomon Islands
Zina Bird, Morgan Wairiu, Helene Jacot Des Combes, and Viliamu Iese
Abstract Increasing concern exists over the impacts of climate change on food
production amongst the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Changing weather patterns
are already having effects on soil fertility, pests and diseases, heat stress in plants,
soil moisture, saltwater incursion from rising sea levels, and increased damage to
agriculture and crops from climate-related extreme events. Although climate-related
extreme events such as cyclones, floods, droughts and storm surges are causing
damages on food production, farmers in PICs often attribute the occurrences and
frequency of climatic hazards to God, spiritual beliefs and cultural practices. This
paper evaluates farmers’ perceptions of how their food production systems and livelihoods are influenced by religious and cultural-spiritual beliefs, as a proxy for understanding climate impacts. We conducted 98 in-depth, semi-structured one-on-one
interviews, a social-demographic survey (n = 98) and personal observations on
farmers’ behaviours using the snowballing method in the Malu’u and Sikwafata
communities on Malaita in the Solomon Islands. We thematically analysed the transcripts placing emphasis on understanding commonalities and differences within
and between the study sites. We found that climate impacts on food production
are one of the major problems identified by 92.3% of the respondents (29.0% of
youths, 25.8% of middle-age, and 37.5% of elderlies) who attribute climate impacts
to God’s punishment or the fulfilment of a prophecy. Human factors including folklore (cultural behaviours/sorcery) were also factors affecting food production for
76% of the respondents (19.3% of youths, 31.6% of middle-age, and 25.1% of elderlies). We also found that 5.4% of farmers had no knowledge or awareness about
climate change and 21.7% claimed that lack of farming equipment (tilling tools and
planting materials) was a major problem. More community awareness on climate
change and its impacts and further research is needed to enable farmers to make
informed decisions about improving their food production systems.
Z. Bird (B) · M. Wairiu · H. J. D. Combes · V. Iese
Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD),
The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
H. J. D. Combes
National Disaster Management Office, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. M. Luetz and P. D. Nunn (eds.), Beyond Belief, Climate Change Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67602-5_3
39
Religious and Cultural-Spiritual
Attributions of Climate-Driven Changes
on Food Production: A Case Study
from North Malaita, Solomon Islands
Zina Bird, Morgan Wairiu, Helene Jacot Des Combes, and Viliamu Iese
Abstract Increasing concern exists over the impacts of climate change on food
production amongst the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Changing weather patterns
are already having effects on soil fertility, pests and diseases, heat stress in plants,
soil moisture, saltwater incursion from rising sea levels, and increased damage to
agriculture and crops from climate-related extreme events. Although climate-related
extreme events such as cyclones, floods, droughts and storm surges are causing
damages on food production, farmers in PICs often attribute the occurrences and
frequency of climatic hazards to God, spiritual beliefs and cultural practices. This
paper evaluates farmers’ perceptions of how their food production systems and livelihoods are influenced by religious and cultural-spiritual beliefs, as a proxy for understanding climate impacts. We conducted 98 in-depth, semi-structured one-on-one
interviews, a social-demographic survey (n = 98) and personal observations on
farmers’ behaviours using the snowballing method in the Malu’u and Sikwafata
communities on Malaita in the Solomon Islands. We thematically analysed the transcripts placing emphasis on understanding commonalities and differences within
and between the study sites. We found that climate impacts on food production
are one of the major problems identified by 92.3% of the respondents (29.0% of
youths, 25.8% of middle-age, and 37.5% of elderlies) who attribute climate impacts
to God’s punishment or the fulfilment of a prophecy. Human factors including folklore (cultural behaviours/sorcery) were also factors affecting food production for
76% of the respondents (19.3% of youths, 31.6% of middle-age, and 25.1% of elderlies). We also found that 5.4% of farmers had no knowledge or awareness about
climate change and 21.7% claimed that lack of farming equipment (tilling tools and
planting materials) was a major problem. More community awareness on climate
change and its impacts and further research is needed to enable farmers to make
informed decisions about improving their food production systems.
Z. Bird (B) · M. Wairiu · H. J. D. Combes · V. Iese
Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD),
The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
H. J. D. Combes
National Disaster Management Office, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. M. Luetz and P. D. Nunn (eds.), Beyond Belief, Climate Change Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67602-5_3
39