Six ways to turn the Solomon Islands' youth into a long-term asset

The annual population growth of 3.6 per cent promises growth in the market for staples and agricultural produce, but whether it will grow at a rate capable of sustaining a corresponding growth in livelihoods remains to be seen. Rural families continue to produce the bulk of their food needs through subsistence farming.

The processing of agricultural goods for export to the towns offers a greater challenge. Although dried breadfruit sold in Honiara is produced in the distant Santa Cruz islands and a honey-peanut butter mix produced on Isabel is available, villagers and aid organisations have found difficulty identifying other products with potential.

As for crops for overseas export, there has long been a copra industry in which villagers participate when they need money, however the industry has declined over the years. There is little prospect of developing a commodity market in beverages and copying Papua New Guinea's success with its exports of teas and coffees, some of which go to the growing organic food market in Australia and elsewhere through "fair trade" organisations. In the Solomons, there is no terrain high enough to produce the premium Arabica coffees and the teas that do so well in the PNG highlands.

There may be a small export market of Pacific island nuts, were it to be developed. Cut Nut and Gnali Nut have long been grown in the villages and can be found in village markets.

The tourism industry offers limited prospect of livelihoods as it was severely damaged by the ethnic tensions and was not large before that. Producing durable goods - products that can absorb the cost of transport and retain high value - in villages is also limited. The Australian aid organisation APACE attempted a furniture making - including furniture for schools - and a village carpentry project in the late 1990s but both failed.

Recognising the fact that village livelihoods will have to be farm-based, a local aid agency, the Solomon Islands Kastom Gaden Association has provided training through the AusAID-funded Sustainable Livelihoods for Rural Youth Project in agricultural forestry, pig farming (pigs have high value in Melanesia), chicken keeping and small business to assist village youths establish small enterprises. Inexplicably, AusAID made the decision not to renew funding for the two-year, post-conflict project.

Reproductive health

In his research, Scales found a demand for education in reproductive health. Family planning and sexual health were cited, both relevant because of the high rate of teen pregnancies and the need to stop the spread of AIDS into the Solomons.

While some aid workers speculate that HIV/AIDS may already exist in isolated cases in the Solomons, educating sexually-active youth is important to prevent the disease gaining the potentially epidemic proportions it has reached in nearby PNG.

The Australian government already has an HIV/AIDS program in PNG, however the head of the United Nations AIDS program, Dr Peter Pilot, said on a recent visit to Australia that the disease was spreading in PNG with one per cent of pregnant women in Port Moresby and a total of 22,000 people throughout the country suffering. He warned of an "Africa-type situation" with dire impact on agricultural production and police and security forces, potentially reducing national security, a factor important in a country with deteriorating law and order. Once one per cent of the population developed HIV infection, he told the Sydney Morning Herald (24.3.04) you have an epidemic unless preventative programs are put in place.

With a population of only about 400,000 people, were HIV/AIDS to take off in the Solomons the effect on agricultural production could be devastating. And with a direct air link between Honiara and Port Moresby, the potential for the spread of HIV/AIDS to the Solomons must be taken seriously.

Village life - participation, sports and youth activities

Scales' three remaining issues of concern to youth are pertinent to how youth fit into village life.

He found a feeling of marginalisation in the village due to a lack of opportunity to play an influential role in society. Youth need to be listened to by village leadership and opportunities to participate in leadership through village meetings and decision making opened up.