Food in Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands has no single food system or single authority responsible for all food matters. Formal, non-formal and informal arrangements operate together. About 80% of the population lives in rural areas, where households commonly combine subsistence crops, fishing, livestock, cash crops, gathering and community support. Families may also buy food at village or community markets, provincial markets and fishery centres. In Honiara, retail shops, imported goods, restaurants and the Honiara Central Market have a larger role. Outside urban centres, household and community food supply remains more common. Common local foods include sweet potato, taro, cassava, yam, banana, breadfruit, coconut, vegetables, fish and other seafood. Rice is a major imported food, and processed imported products are more prominent in urban and peri-urban diets. Supply is uneven because islands are separated by sea, transport depends on weather and infrastructure, and household income differs. The main urban food markets include Honiara, Auki, Gizo and Noro, while places such as Temotu and the Reef Islands also rely on fishery centres and feeder links to Lata or Honiara. Food found in one province or island should not automatically be treated as representative of the whole country. Cooking commonly involves boiling, roasting, baking, earth or stone ovens and the use of coconut cream. A typical combination may include fish with root crops, taro or sweet potato and coconut. Lakengo, a cassava or taro mixture with fresh coconut cream, is documented in South Guadalcanal. There is no reliably established single national dish, because food traditions and available ingredients differ with farming conditions, access to the sea, kastom and transport. Food access is also a nutrition issue. Solomon Islands faces a triple burden that includes child stunting, wasting and anaemia alongside adult overweight and non-communicable disease risks. UNICEF reported stunting at about 30% and overweight among children under five at about 6% in 2022. A 2015 estimate placed wasting at about 9%. WHO data for 2016 recorded anaemia among children under five at 42.9%, among women of reproductive age at 38.91% and among pregnant women at 48.56%. Breastfeeding, suitable complementary feeding, local kaikai and a more varied diet are recognised priorities. Individual diagnosis and treatment belong to health services rather than this general food subject. Food sold in Solomon Islands must be safe and wholesome under the Pure Food Act 1996. The rules cover adulterated or falsely described food, labelling and date marking. Health inspectors may inspect, sample, seize or condemn food. Slaughterhouses and dairy facilities may require licensing or registration. The Ministry of Health and Medical Services, including its Food Safety Unit and Environmental Health Division, leads food-safety work, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Biosecurity, the Ministry of Finance Customs and Excise, the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Honiara City Council and provincial authorities have related responsibilities. Import procedures were updated through standard operating procedures in 2024, and HACCP training was provided in 2025 for Honiara hotels, restaurants and water-bottling businesses. Food safety risks increase when imported goods, refrigeration, water and sanitation systems are unreliable, or when raw and highly perishable seafood is handled poorly. Floods and other natural disasters can disrupt supply and raise contamination risks. Food businesses, importers, producers, distributors and exporters must follow applicable safety, hygiene, truthful-labelling and licensing or registration requirements. Customary marine users also need to follow community rules and local management plans. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock covers crops, livestock, extension and supply chains; the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources covers fisheries and aquaculture; and the Ministry of Health and Medical Services covers nutrition and food safety. Food costs do not follow one national menu or price list. The Solomon Islands National Statistics Office publishes a monthly Consumer Price Index for Honiara, Auki, Gizo and Noro. Food and non-alcoholic beverages have CPI weights of 34.290 for Solomon Islands, 40.300 for Auki, 43.624 for Gizo, 41.784 for Noro and 33.262 for Honiara. These weights come from the 2012/13 Household Income and Expenditure Survey and show the relative importance of food in the index, not current prices for a particular household. Prices and availability change with season, transport, imports, weather and local production. Older World Bank project data estimated food at about 46% of household income nationally and about 53% in rural areas, but those figures should not be treated as current individual budgets. Sustainable food practice includes resilient local supply chains, agroforestry, climate-smart production, storage and transport improvements, food-loss reduction and composting of organic waste. The Agriculture Sector Growth Strategy and Investment Plan 2021–2030 supports these approaches and the use of local kaikai. Fisheries policy for 2019–2029 promotes ecosystem-based, gender-equitable and climate-resilient management. Measures can include size limits, gear restrictions, protected areas, seasons or closures, quotas, licences and harvest or export bans. Customary marine tenure and community-based resource management shape local fishing access; 158 active community-based resource management sites were recorded, and coastal fish consumption was estimated at about 32.2 to 45.5 kilograms per person per year. These arrangements protect reefs and mangroves, support biodiversity and help reduce dependence on imports, but their enforcement capacity is not identical across provinces.