UN food agency visits drought hit Marshall Islands

10:38 am on 12 March 2018

Drought in remote atolls of the Marshall Islands has prompted a visit from the the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization is a specialised agency designed to lead efforts to defeat hunger

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization is a specialised agency designed to lead efforts to defeat hunger Photo: UN

Its senior officer Frank Chopin was part of a team that went to Wotje atoll to talk to people about which crops were still growing and what help they needed.

Mr Chopin said importing food was not a good alternative.

"Getting a boat to some of the remote atolls is quite expensive. And then you have to look at how regular is that boat service to the islands," he said.

"So the more that people can become resilient, grow their own food, catch their own fish, that's really where I think a lot of the islanders would like to be and that's the type of support we would like to provide them with."

Mr Chopin said the FAO would provide seeds and seedlings to help re-establish household gardens.

The local high school would also be assisted to help the community develop better gardening practices including soil enrichment and pest management.